Lighter than Air
by Blue33143
Summary: In another universe, Paul and Ash are selected as 'bonds'. Paul has the ability to jump universes, giving Ash the responsibility of his protection. In an adventure that jumps universes into the pokemon one, they battle in a war impossible to win. A war that is only possible with multiple universes. A war against themselves. Eventual Comashipping.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, so this is going to be an AU, (just like my first one I believe. :D) And it is going to have Comashipping. Not sure how much yet so rating may go up. :D**

**Hope you enjoy this, and if you have a moment, please leave a review. Thanks!**

Chapter One:

**Ash:**

I tried to keep my gaze straight ahead of me as I walked up the aisle. I didn't want this bonding anymore then Paul did. I could sense him, directly beside me; his own head hung low, not even trying to hide his frustration.

I glance over at him. He doesn't look up at me, just continues to stare at his feet. _Why couldn't I get someone who at least will talk to me? He won't he doesn't talk to anyone…_

Tradition. That's why. For as long as anyone can remember, every person has been given a bond. At five years of age, (How old I am at the moment), every child's mentor chooses them a bond. This bond may be the same or different gender, with similar personalities or not, anyone. But for some reason, they will either reject or except each other at the ceremony. This one was only the first one.

We reach the alter, where our mentors shake hands, mumbling words of greetings. We don't say anything. The priest stands in front of us, his beady eyes staring down at us.

He removes two daggers from his belt, their blades still gleaming from the fresh sharpening. They are completely identical, for now. He leans forward, and takes my hand in his grasp, placing one of the daggers in it.

I am not looking forward to this part….

I glance up at Paul but he refuses to even look at me. I sigh, and wait for the sacred commandment…..

"Ash-ale'gh, leave your mark upon your forearm, allow the bonding to commence. Paul-ale'gh, put forth your arm, let us watch to see if this was meant to be.'

I close my eyes and grip the dagger harshly. He places his forearm next to mine, biting his lip to keep from uttering any noise as I slice through my skin. I am almost disappointed to see that his own body has an identical cut forming in it. We both cringe, feeling the knife cut through our soft flesh. It however, heals its trail instantly, leaving behind nothing more than a line.

Mine is a blue one. I run my fingers over it. It is shaped in a complicated twist of swirling lines, running almost five inches long down my forearm. Paul's however, makes everyone gasp. I look over and swallow hard as well.

It is silver.

This was _bad. _He was silver… and I was blue…. That meant he was like his brother. He was a Dare'th. He had the power to rip universes, travel through them, he could even control time. I stare down at my own mark.

And if I was correct in memory, this made me his Protector.

I shrugged off that term. It meant many things, I made sure he wasn't hurt, I also helped him control the power. Though all bonds created telepathic links between their participants, ours would be especially strong.

For the first time Paul looks at me. For the first time since I met him he looks afraid. We both know what can happen to Dare'th. I hold the knife tighter in my hands. Our symbols in the different colors have been drawn into the knives. The priest hands Paul his.

Our mentors look slightly shocked at the unexpected occurrence. Paul's whispers in his ear softly. He nods and places the dagger on his belt. I do the same, ready for the final part…..

"They're bodies have accepted their fate. Now, for the final act, the joining of the minds…." He takes our forearms and presses them together. They burn at first, causing us to flinch, but the pain relaxes and we become more interested in what he is doing now.

He places his hand on the back of our head's, forcing us to lean forward until our foreheads touch. I can feel Paul's breath on my face, his bangs pressed against my forehead. I grit my teeth when I feel my mind ripped from itself.

I find myself in a different universe, one at first only filled with colors and shapes. Until I find someone else. Paul.

I want to talk, but our first mind link ends before it even really begins.

My eyes snap open, Paul immediately pulls away. I look up at my mentor for approval. I receive a sharp nod.

"The first is done." The priest says. "It will be completed in several years time… leave now."

We do as he says, crossing the church quickly. Once outside in the cold frigid weather, we turn to face each other. Paul's hand clutches his mark on his left arm, his eyes downcast. For a moment, I almost feel pity. I heard that Dare'th's often have painful first bondings and that it can take days for the scar to stop burning. Mine already feels fine.

Without warning he glares at me.

"I don't care what they say, Ash, I don't need any help from you. Just leave me alone!" He turns, leaving me there alone.

I close my eyes. I had been warned that there is sometimes denial, and you just have to work through it.

I turn to go home, walking along the snow ridden path.

**Ten Years Later:**

**Ash:**

I stand outside of the church, waiting for the ceremony to begin.

Paul hadn't arrived yet. Unlike most people our age, our telepathic connection had not grown, in fact, we both tried to ignore the mark as much as possible. I sigh, running my hand over my mark. It burns today as it did the first day.

I stand up, looking out into the snowy forest, hoping to catch some glimpse of purple, any sign of Paul. I am lucky and spot him.

He is training, as usual.

The war has grown. Every child is prepared for battle. Dare'ths especially were prepared. To fight across universes, you had to have them ready to fight.

After the final bonding, we were to be shipped away to the final training camp, where we would begin our lives in serving for the empire.

Paul noticed me watching him and immediately stopped. He approaches at a leisurely pace, stopping exactly ten feet away from me. I try and smile but his glare shoots it down.

We hear to others approach us. Our mentors. Tonight, we say goodbye to them, we will receive a single new one for the both of us when we arrive at camp.

"Tonight will be our final night together." mine, Sam, says. Sam is a tall man, muscular. He is kind and gentle, despite his great size. But he is old, and I will be the final one he trains. He takes my left arm and holds it up, looking proudly at my mark.

Paul's mentor, Ayden, was nothing like mine. He was smaller, focused more on agility, flexibility and speed. He wasn't known for his kindness, but more for his intelligence and cunning mind. His sharp eyes ran over me and grasp Paul's arm in a harsh manner, bringing it up to study. He runs his fingers over it, which for some unknown reason makes my body burn with hatred for him. I knew that it was the most sensitive part of us now, and the only person who could touch it without pain, was me or him.

I glance up at Sam, who quickly grabs Ayden's wrist, muttering something in the old language. Ayden nods and reaches forward and takes my arm in his hands. He presses me and Paul's arms together. We both flinch at the sudden psychic connection between us, the first one since the first night. He surprises me when without warning, Paul pulls away.

"Paul- ale'gh, what is the meaning of this? You do not fear your bond's mind do you?" Ayden said harshly. Paul glared up at him.

"We are not prepared for anything more than the most basic mind touch. Any deeper, without the help of an elder, could render both of us insane."

Ayden smiles cruelly. "At least I knew that you paid attention to my lessons…."

Sam froze, realizing had just happened. "Are you saying, that that was a test? That if Paul had not remembered….."

"Trial and error is something I have never allowed Paul to have the luxury of. When you see him fight, both with his pokemon, and with himself you will see the urgency in which I have expressed that."

Sam prepares to reply just as the door opens.

"Mentors Sam and Ayden, have you brought Ash- ale'gh and Paul- ale'gh?"

"Yes," they both reply, positioning themselves beside us.

Paul and my shoulders are almost pressed together, and we both hold our breaths to remain out of contact.

"Step forward, the bonding will now commence."

We do as he says, me, closing my eyes, hoping silently, that this wasn't going to be nearly as bad as I thought it was.

…..

**Thanks for reading, going to get better, sorry for all the explanations this chapter….. Going to actually start getting to the story. If you have a moment, please leave a review. Thanks. :D**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

**Paul:**

It burned. It burned worse than the first night. It burned to the point where I almost fainted right at the altar. I don't know if Ash felt the same thing, I couldn't tell. His face remained calm throughout the whole thing.

Ayden had warned me that Dare'ths always had rough bondings, the second even worse than the first, but I hadn't expected this. I almost yanked my arm away from Ash. As part of the ceremony, I removed my dagger and saluted Ash. He did the same thing. I was struggling to remain in my own mind, alone. I felt them take the ceremonial rope and tie our arms together. I flinch. I was officially stuck for the night.

Our marks bound together, a telepathic connection was inevitable. I felt Ayden take my shoulder, leading me out of the church, Ash and Sam forced to follow by our joined arms. We are taken to a shed in the middle of the forest, about a miles walk.

He opens the door and nearly shoves me in, unlike Ash, I'm used to this kind of treatment. Sam comes in after us.

"We'll be back in the morning. This is to practice your control even when you are asleep. We will untie you in the morning. Until then," Sam says. Ayden stays for a moment.

"As you both know, the bonding is for strategic purposes. This allows our warriors to fight in a more…. Precise pattern. I am warning you Ash- ale'gh, do not mess up what I have created. Paul is the ultimate fighter, do not mess up his thought arrangement." He leaves.

I would have apologized to Ash for what he said if it were not for the incredible amount of pain he was causing me right now. He takes my other hand in his, forcing me to look at him.

"Paul, I think we should just give in. It'll be a lot better if we don't fight the stupid connection." He says nervously. I glare back at him.

"I don't want you in my head."

"I'm going to be there eventually if you like it or not."

I lay down as slowly as I can, trying not to collapse from the pain in my arm.

"You're in pain. I can feel it." He leans over me and for a second, I begin to regret my decision to lie down. He bends over and places his forehead on mine, forcing the mental connection. I gasp as I am ripped from my mind and thrown once again into an empty space. This time however, before I can retreat, his mind grabs ahold of me.

"Let go of me you-"

"The pains gone now. Can't you see that?' I freeze. He's right. I stop struggling and he releases me. Still glaring at him, I don't allow any further then the first layer of my mind, which is basic emotions. Nothing more.

Finally, he allows both of us to retreat back into our own minds. When we arrive, I realize that the burning has stopped. Laying down beside me, Ash drifts off to sleep almost immediately, wrapping himself in his cloak to keep warm. I follow suit minutes later.

…..

I wake up just as my wrist is cut free from Ash's. Sitting up immediately, I realize that it is Ayden who has done so.

"Paul- ale'gh, are you ok?" he says, running his hands over my mark again. I hate when he does that, but I know that he is only making sure that it is still working. I look over at Ash who sits up as well.

"I'm fine." I says standing up. Ash joins me just as Sam walks in. He has a large smile on his face.

"Ash," They speak to each other without any formality….. "I have incredible news!" Ash walks up to him, allowing him to grasp his shoulders. "I have received permission to train both you and Paul. I will be your new mentor!"

I freeze, stepping closer to Ayden. Though most would find him cruel and twisted, he is a great mentor. I have learned much from him. I do not wish to turn from my fighting style…..

"Yes! Oh my God! That's awesome!" Ash says dancing around him. I glare at Sam openly. No matter what he says, I'm not about to give up anything I trained for. Ayden clutches my arm before pulling me back almost behind him.

"Then Sam, I must ask that you treat Paul with respect." Ayden muttered. "He is trained in a way that he does not need adjusted."

"I will of course give him respect, though I hope that you realize that some of the best fighters, are trained in multiple ways. I hope that he will both except new styles, and share his old ones." He glances at his watch. "We must go. The sun is already up."

They both turn, waiting for me to make a move to join them. I do, but not without saying goodbye to Ayden.

"Mentor Ayden, thank you for the past years of teaching." I say bowing slightly. He nods.

"Paul- ale'gh, go far and fight strong. May our paths meet once again one day." I nod and join Sam on the other side of the building. I do not offer a greeting.

Sighing, he turns and sets off at a fast run. With one more glance at Ayden, I follow, jumping into the pace easily. I easily cross the rough trails, leap the small river in a single bound and all in all, do not lose my footing once.

I can tell that I am faster than either of them, and definitely more flexible. I am however impressed, for such an old man, he is incredibly strong.

I use a tree branch to send myself flying over a small ditch in the ground. I land on the other side in a catlike way and turn to wait for my fellow travelers. They choose to climb through the ditch instead, wasting time. How am I ever going to make it with these two…..

"Why don't you just jump?" I ask. "It is faster."

"But if you fall Paul- ale'gh, then you are more than slowed down, you can be injured." I snort.

"I will not fall. If you train correctly, you do not stumble."

They reach me.

"I will show you later, Paul- ale'gh, what it means when a warrior falls." I can see Ash giggling slightly and I don't like the pleased look on Sam's face.

"Yes." I say quietly. "You shall."

We continue at a fast pace, this time, they have tried to go faster to let me run. I enjoy running, the pounding of your heart against your chest, the feeling of your lungs bursting. I am glad that he allows me to run. We come to the edge of a lake.

"What are we doing here?" I ask grumpily. "This isn't the railroad tracks." Neither of us has ever been on a train, we don't have electricity, but we have been described a rail road track.

Smiling, Sam hands out several water proof sacks. Still grinning, he says calmly. "Strip. We need to swim across the lake."

Is this guy crazy?! It's twenty five degrees outside, the water is not ice, it was moving slightly so this made it hard to freeze. I know how to swim…. But this was ridiculous.

Both of them have already removed their clothing and placed it in the bags. I turn away, blushing at their little modesty.

"Come on, we don't have all day and we're not going without you." Sam says smirking slightly.

I take off my coat slowly, feeling incredibly self-conscious. Ayden and I….. well we never got this personal. I liked privacy as a rule and this was not something I liked at all.

I removed my shirt quickly enough, but flinched at the cold that suddenly hit my bare skin. I then took off my moccasins, allowing myself to remove the rest of my clothing. Stuffing it all in my bag, I turned to face them, my face probably still red. I can blame it on the cold…..

I close the sack and throw it over my shoulder. "Let's just go." I mutter.

Sam nods before leaping into the freezing water. I follow, wondering how the hell we're going to get across this alive. The water stings my skin, making me flinch but I push forward, swimming with powerful strokes. When we do make it to the other side, I throw myself out of the water, shaking horribly. It was absolute torture….

Wiping off the water as best as I can, I reach into the sack and remove my clothes, throwing them on. My fellow travelers do the same. Warm once again, I shake my long purple hair out of my face angrily.

I look up in time to see several men waiting for us. Each of them is holding a horse in their hands. I glance towards Sam. He must have prepared this, they have my horse with them. I also recognize Ash and Sam's horses.

We approach our horses. I notice that they are carrying everything we will need on our journey to the tracks, which though it is only a day's worth, it is still exhausting. Ash's horse is named Birch, a sturdy young male that is easily fast and powerful. He has a long winter coat that is colored white but with speckled black spots.

Sam's horse is Streak. An obvious name for the horse is pure black except for a single white streak on his large, broad chest.

I rest my hand on my horse's nose. Her name's Chance. She's a beautiful red sorrel mare. Her hooves all have white socks along with a star on her forehead. Though she has little endurance, she is incredibly fast for short distances. Ayden did not approve of this but I insisted that I get her. She had smooth gates, smoother than any other horse I had ever ridden.

"Are we going to ride them to the tracks?" Ash asked curiously. "They get to come with us to camp, right?" I freeze. I didn't want to leave Chance here. It took me forever to earn her trust long enough for her to not buck me off.

"Of course Ash." Sam swung himself onto Streak. "Come on boys, let's ride."

**Thanks for continuing with Lighter than Air! Hope you're enjoying it!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

**Ash:**

We trotted most of the way. We tried galloping for a while, but during that short time, Paul's horse, (Who is damn fast!) pulled ahead…. Then completely ran out of energy after around ten minutes. In my opinion, Chance has little to no endurance.

I pat Birch on the neck, looking over at her. Chance is panting, though refuses to stop or even rest. Won't even let herself fall behind from the group. Finally, by the late afternoon, we arrive at the tracks where we stop to wait.

"The train should be here soon, we're here just in time." Sam says, looking up at the sun to tell time. I shiver with excitement. I've been told that a train moves with absolutely no help… no men or horse pulling it. And they had light and heat that didn't come from fire! Electricity to me was magic!

That's when I heard the first horn. I look up to see a giant metal….. horse? rumbling towards us. Chance is spooked by this and Paul actually has to hop off to regain control. The horse? Stops right in front of us, its doors opening.

Sam smiles at the looks on our faces. Another man gets off.

"Sam! Good to see you again! Why don't you go get these kids horses set up in the back then come on in?" he says happily. We are motioned to follow. We take our horses back to one of the carts that are obviously for horses. Going inside, we find places to tie the reins. I look over at Paul, he's trying to calm Chance down, she doesn't seem to like the metal horse.

We remove the saddles and I copy Paul when he removes his cloak and places it on Chance. I do the same for Birch. It's freezing outside and without exercise, they are going to get cold. We find some water for them before heading back over to where Sam is waiting for us.

We enter the horse. Light that seemingly comes from nowhere shines in on us and I flinch just thinking about it. It is warm surprisingly and there are people. Lots of people. People dressed in weird clothes. People who seem to find all of this natural. They look up at us.

They're clothes are far different from ours. We wear moccasins with dark woolen pants. Our tunics are purple and red, (Mine being red, Paul's purple) and they are far too large and were meant for men twice our size. At least we weren't wearing our cloaks…..

They wear blue…. Rough looking material that we soon find out they call jeans. They wear shirts and sweaters that are skin tight. Even their hair is different. Unlike my unruly black hair and Paul's long purple hair, theirs is under control, the girls pulled back into something they call… ponytails. The girls back home just cut off their hair if it got annoying. Then again…. They did something similar with spare pieces of leather. Just didn't call it ponytails.

We found out their names were Dawn, May, Drew, Gary, Barry, Brock, and Misty. We sit down next to them, and for the first time out of nervousness, do not sit too far apart. They try and get us into the conversation but we don't understand what they're talking about…. What's TV?

As it's getting dark, and they continue to try and explain what they're talking about, a person comes and gives us pieces of paper, called menus.

I am about to ask what to do when Paul beats me to it.

"What are these for?" he asks confused. Everyone looks shocked.

"You order your food." Dawn replies.

"We get to choose?" I say, interested.

They nod. Unusual. Mostly we just ate what little there was for us…..

I look down at the menu. What were these things? How were there so many?!

Paul looks just as flustered, so I don't feel as nervous. I look up at them sheepishly.

"We don't know what these things are." I say, "Can you order for us?" Paul nods, putting the menu down.

Dawn smiles, "Sure!" she looks down at the menu. "What do you eat at home?"

"Whatever is readily available, for us that usually means deer, rabbit, or berries." Paul replies, "We will take whatever is easiest." I nod, determined to not be a bother. They stare at us like we just dropped from outer space.

"Get them some roast chicken." Gary says simply. Everyone nods at that. Paul and I frown. A what?

"And some mashed potatoes," May says licking her lips.

"Don't forget gravy!" Barry shouts happily. Paul and I continue to stare at them as they shout food after food. "And for a vegetable, green beans!"

When the waiter does come with our food, I swear my eyes were as large as the dinner plates. It. Was. So. Much. I without hesitating, took a bite out of the chicken after receiving instructions on the fork and knives. Awesome….. I glance over at Paul. He hasn't tried it yet. Like me, he's probably never seen so much food in his entire life.

"It's good." I say my mouth full. He looks over at me nervously before taking a small bite. He looks at me shocked for a moment before taking another bite.

"It's… how is there so much?!" he says, looking over the table. Everyone has _huge _portion sizes, some even ordered two meals.

May laughs. "From what I know about you two, you come from the Northern part of the Woods. Not much food up there and you can't farm. Down south where it is warmer, people always have much more food. Eat as much as you like."

We couldn't actually hold that much. We were very skinny by their opinions and just weren't used to having that much. Everyone finished eating before getting out…. different….. clothes.

"What are those for?" I ask, embarrassed that we have so many questions.

"For sleeping!" Dawn says happily. "They're pajamas!"

_Ohhh….._ _They have different clothes for sleeping? What a waste….._ Paul and I followed them to another section of the train where there were beds to sleep on. They were in the wall with a top and a bottom bunk.

Everyone chose a random bed, leaving Paul and me just standing there, looking stupid.

"Take those two," Gary says, pointing out two empty bunks. We do as he says, me on top and Paul on the bottom. Wrapping myself in the non-fur related blanket, I listen to the conversation that begins, which is surprisingly about us. I'm pretty sure they thought I was asleep.

"Hey, Misty!" Gary whispers from across the cart. Misty sat up, looking over at him.

"What?"

"We have competition now. I've heard that these people from the North are incredible athletes. Not just that, but I've heard they ride horses better than anyone." Misty snorted.

"They haven't see us yet-"

"No, I mean it Misty! These people spent their entire childhood riding! They've probably known how before they could walk."

Barry sat up. "It's true, at least from what I've been told."

"We've all been riding for most of our lives though." Dawn says, tilting her head. "If we're going to be in the war, we need to know how to ride. Technology can't travel to other universes."

"There's a reason that they were chosen. This reason is because they are so physically incredible, I'm not sure how smart they are though…."

I snort. Paul, was smart. Really smart. Me, well, I wasn't stupid. I knew what I was doing.

"They're inexperienced," Misty says, "But then again, do you guys remember when we left our villages for the first time. We were just like them."

"Yeah, wait till they see base." Barry says. "They're going to be amazed. But you gotta admit it, they're going to be better riders."

Misty smirks. "I'll believe it when I see it Barry. And I doubt any of them can beat you and Flash at speed."

Barry smirks as well. "That…. I might be able to agree with."

I join them smirking, you haven't seen Chance. Good luck beating her.

Soon they all actually go to sleep, after talking for a few more minutes.

Sighing softly I close my eyes to sleep-

Someone grabs my arm roughly. My eyes snap open and my other hand raises to punch my attacker. Paul ducks my punch and glares at me.

"It's me you idiot," he hisses angrily.

"What is it?" I ask, wondering what he wanted to ask me.

"I wanted to ask you if you heard their conversation."

"Sure did. They have no idea what their talking about. Chance will beat anyone they throw at her with speed. If you can stay on." I challenge playfully. He glares at me again.

Sighing, he crosses his arms. "Birch won't do half bad."

I smile. He's being nice. "So, do you think that we'll be there by tomorrow? I can't wait to see what else there is going to be."

"Probably. We're traveling through the whole night, and at the speed we are going we'll travel pretty far."

"This is all so amazing." I whisper. He smirks at me, though I can tell it is not in a mean manner.

"I know." He answers softly before laying down in the bed underneath me. "Night, Ash."

"Good night Paul." I reply before flipping over calmly and pulling the covers up to my chest.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four:

**Paul:**

I woke up quite abruptly as I was thrown onto the floor by the sudden stop of the train. I jump to my feet just to be crushed by Ash, falling in a similar manner from the top bunk.

I through him off and got to my feet. Others had fallen across the floor, but not as roughly as us. Ash groans and stands up next to me.

"What was that about?" he mutters almost incoherently.

"I don't know…."

"We're here!" Dawn shouts as she jumps from her bunk. "Come on! Get up everyone!"

The few people still asleep manage to crawl to their feet, yawning.

The door burst open, admitting the train conductor.

"We've arrived! Please go and collect your horses! Then we will lead you to the camp!" We all exited the cart, after waiting for anyone to change clothes. I move closer to Ash, still feeling uncomfortable with this group of people.

We enter the cart where Chance and Birch are waiting. Streak is already untied with Sam tightening her saddle. He smiles at us, which Ash returns. I scowl and move over to Chance. I'm still not ready to be friendly with this guy….

I glance over Chance, making sure she is ok. Her slender body quivers with energy, her long legs dance with alertness. I smile. She was ready for action. I pull my cloak from her back and brush my hand over her soft neck. She snorts her approval and pulls at my sleeve gently with her muzzle.

I tighten her saddle as Sam did, preparing her for a ride. Preparing her bridal properly, I lead her outside. Ash and Sam follow seconds later. I can feel the other rider's eyes watching us; they want to see our horses and how we ride them. I sigh. Chance stomps her hoofs next to me excitedly.

Ash has already swung onto Birch and is riding the speckled horse in a circle, laughing. Sam on Streak has joined quickly. I leap onto Chance, positioning myself comfortably.

Everyone else has gotten on their horses now.

Barry has Flash, who we heard about last night was fast. He looks it. Though not quite as slender as Chance, he is around the same size. A beautiful bay, the male strides on long legs. He shakes a black mane and tail.

Dawn rides a small brown horse, a mare. Seems to have a very patient personality as it is the only horse holding completely still.

Brock rides a large mustang, a buckskin. Probably the most powerful horse here, only rivaled with Streak.

Gary rides an average sized white male. Nothing noticeable from his looks though probably not to slow. Fast and endurance.

Drew was riding an almost red mare, a pudgy almost pony like horse. In a way laughable as he tries to keep up with May's huge grey stallion.

Misty was the final one, she rode up to us on a black horse, trotting at a steady pace.

"Morning." She says happily. Chance snorts at the male horse as it smells her. I rub my hand down her neck before looking up at her and nodding a greeting.

Everyone else follows suit and soon I am surrounded by a group of chatting people and horses. Sam and Ash move so that they are on either side of me. I would have moved away from them if it weren't for the fact that I was blocked by everyone else.

They seem to all be talking about the same thing, the war. I try and listen but already know what they are talking about. Ayden was careful to keep me updated. I pull my cloak tighter around me to try and bite out the cold air.

"Attention." A voice rang out from a few feet in front of the crowd. Everyone turned to face a tall man gripping an impressive white horse, with powerful legs that glistened with power as he paced, stomping his feet. The man hopped from his horse, staring out at the crowd with a blank face. "My name is Mentor Riddle, I will be taking you to the camp."

He glances around the crowd, his eyes scanning over Ash and me especially.

"Two fighters from the north woods." He nods at us. "Your names?"

"Ash." Ash replies, bowing slightly. I raise an eyebrow, making eye contact with him.

"Paul." I reply. He nods again, smirking slightly. I scowl, not liking his facial expression. He motions for us to step forward, or more specifically, me.

"Come here, I like your attitude."

_My what?_

"There are not many who would so openly face me, even without knowing me." he continues to smirk, "Step forward." His grin turns crooked, "Come on."

I glance towards Sam, asking permission. Everyone else is silent. He nods at me, though his expression remains blank. Clearing a path, people allow me to pass. I force Chance to remain at a slow walk though she wants to break into a run.

I stop when I am several feet away from him; I have not dropped eye contact the whole time. He moves even closer and I cringe as Chance's ears lay back, showing her disapproval. The large white horse snaps his dominance at her, nipping her nose. She pulls back angrily, preparing to rear up on her legs but the sharp kick I give her warns her not to.

He laughs softly, laying his hand on his horse's neck. Chance snorts indignantly.

"So…. Paul-ale'gh," he whispers, rubbing his hand along his horse, "Show me your mark."

I make no move to do so. I know he wishes to see the color… to me… the question is personal. I move my right hand to hold my left sleeve down. I don't need everyone here knowing what I am.

"Why do you fear your mark? Your bond is suitable I hope." He says almost teasingly. I glare at him before drawing my sleeve back just enough so he can glimpse it. Before I can react, he grabs my wrist, pulling me closer to him. "You, Paul-ale'gh, are a Dare'th…. Your bond I take is Ash-ale'gh?"

I nod, gritting my teeth. He smiles cruelly, running his hand over my scar like mark. He releases me suddenly.

"We will see if your bark, which I'll admit is impressive, is as big as your bite." He whispers before turning on his horse. "Forward, we have a long ride ahead." He glances back at me. "You and Ash will ride with me; your mentor can ride behind us."

I wait for Ash to get to me before breaking into a canter to catch Riddle. I feel Chance desperate to run next to him, show him what she can do but I force her to remain at a reasonable pace. No reason to ware her out before the ride even really began. We remain directly beside him, though due to the rough terrain we are forced to dodge side to side.

I push Chance hard, after about two hours of the rough climb at a trot, she begins to tire, but pushes on at a completely will driven pace.

The terrain is that of a mountain, and our altitude is steadily rising. We are climbing a mountain and there are many rocks, solid and unsolid, grass, tree roots, mud, and much more in the way of obstacles. The horses struggle to the top for there is no clear path.

Finally, as the sun is setting, we arrive.

I glance up to see a huge silver building, around it flat ground. It is hidden completely by trees and cliffs surrounding it. We easily cross the lot of easy grass to the building, where I immediately hop off Chance, giving her a chance to breathe.

Everyone follows me in doing this. Chance is not the only horse gasping for air.

"This is it…." Ash whispers next to me. I glance at him before looking back up at the large building. "Incredible…."

I run my hand over Chance's sweat covered coat. She is breathing heavily, her chest heaving.

"Is there any place to water the horses?" I ask bluntly to Riddle. He nods and points another building. A wooden one.

"Everyone please find your stalls there. They have been labeled with your horses name." he gives his own reins to a stable hand. "When you are done, come back here to wait further instruction and evening meal."

I walk Chance slowly, trotting her for a bit to help her leg muscles stretch before slipping into the stable. Stall's 10 and 11.

**10: Chance**

**11: Birch**

I slip Chance inside; quickly removing her saddle and bridal before making sure that the water is warm for her over worked body. Also the temperature is cold, especially in the brisk mountain air so I find a horse blanket for her. There is already hay and oats for her.

Ash is waiting for me, his own saddle and bridal in his hands. Together, we walk them to a place again labeled with our names where we place our saddles carefully on the poles in the tack room before leaving to return to the front.

When everyone else arrives, we are handed out room assignments before being shipped off to dinner.

The second we are disbanded, I start to feel the stares that I knew would come. I grit my teeth, close my eyes, and withstand it.

In that moment I curse my bloodline with everything I've got.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for reading!**

Chapter Five:

**Ash:**

We arrive at the dorm room we will be living in for who knows how long. Paul and I share one, and quickly place our few belongings in the drawers we are given. Exhausted, and full from dinner, I lie down on my bed.

He turns off the light and sits down on his after removing his moccasins. I do the same quickly, also removing my cloak. We lay back down, and Paul looks out the window.

"What do you think?" I ask softly. He shrugs.

"It's fine…"

I close my eyes, frustrated that he wasn't helping with the conversation.

"Can you at least _try _and be positive Paul?!" I snap out angrily.

He shrugs indifferently, rolling over so he is no longer facing me.

Sighing grumpily, I go to sleep.

…..

The next morning, after a quick breakfast, we begin our tests. We are told to fetch our horses and head to the corral.

Everyone arrives, horses ready to ride. Barry approaches Paul and me, smirking competitively. Everyone else watches, grinning.

"I heard you two are supposed to be incredible riders." He grins, "I'm the fastest one here." Nodding towards Chance and Birch, "I've also heard you have the best horses in the country. Care to back up that claim?"

I smirk back at him. "Why don't we do this, Paul's the faster one of us, and you're the fastest of the other group." I cross my arms. "You two have a race." Everyone's smiles grow, and their excitement grows as well.

I expect Paul to decline but I am surprised when he nods.

"I'm up to it." Chance shakes her head in agreement.

"Dawn and I will judge." Gary calls out from the back. Everyone agrees and they head up the track.

I volunteer to start the race. Just as we're about to begin, Riddle shows up.

"What is going on?" he growls.

"A race sir…" I say nervously. He smiles when seeing the contestants.

"Between these two, I will allow it. It is time Paul-ale'gh, to show if your abilities match up to your attitude." He steps from his horse. "Barry is my fastest rider. Do not disappoint me."

I hop off Birch and head to the starting line. Everyone is facing the course. It is Chance's ideal length, a quarter mile stretch.

"On your mark." They position their horses on the line where May makes sure neither is cheating. "Get set…." They tighten their grip on the rains…. "GO!"

The horses took off at incredible speed. Their feet barely touching the ground, they appeared to fly. For a second, I thought Paul was going to fall, but he managed to hold onto Chance, who had with ease taken the lead.

I glance over at Riddle. He was in pure shock. I turn back to the race, watching Paul lean over the saddle, trying to match his movements to Chance's…

She crossed the finish line, winning by almost four lengths.

Barry was laughing as he crossed the line after her. They came riding back in our direction, stopping when they arrived.

"That," Barry says, smiling, "Is one fast animal."

Paul continued to stroke her gently, smiling slightly. I am about to congratulate him when Riddle suddenly speaks.

"I think we've found our new front line."

"What?" I ask.

"Barry used to be our fastest rider. The front line always has the fastest rider."

"What is the front line?" Paul mutters, he looks over at Barry, checking if he was angry.

"Don't worry." Barry says good heartedly, "I don't care, congrats!"

"What do I have to do?" He asks Riddle.

"Well, the front line is the one we send in first during battle. They run along the back side, unnoticed. They get behind the enemy before attacking." He smirks. "They have to be able to make a fast get away."

He walks along the run way until he is standing next to Paul.

"I will of course, have to make sure you are fast, you personally I mean. If your horse is shot down you have to run yourself."

I flinch, knowing that the thought of Chance being shot was sickening to Paul. However, he does not react on the outside.

"Of course."

…..

I jam my heals into Birch, urging him to continue to run. We were in the middle of a harsh forest run, a test of endurance.

Surprisingly, Chance and Paul were still with the group. Chance seemed to be determined to stay with them, not to even slow down. She continued to refuse to even fall to the back of the group.

I land roughly after jumping a ditch and turn Birch around to wait for the stragglers. Or straggler. Drew was having trouble with his tiny pony like horse, Rosie. Chance stood next to me, breathing incredibly hard.

"Paul, how is she?"

"She'll live." He growls back, drawing his cloak tighter around him. I sigh, it is cold up hear. The trail has taken us up into the mountain, where the temperature was dropping at a steady pace.

Everyone in our group is getting tired, and a life time of living in the North gives me the knowledge to know what is coming.

A snow storm.

I can tell Paul has realized it too, because he is picking up the pace.

"We got to get moving," he growls, pulling back on Chance to get her to slow done, allowing him to face everyone behind him. "There's some rough weather coming."

"We'll never make it…." May mutters, "It's over six miles to camp…."

"Then we better get moving, we won't survive in a blizzard." Paul says knowingly, with a slight hint of demand.

"We could find shelter." Barry offers.

"Where do you suppose we'll find that," Paul says sarcastically, his eyes narrowing.

"There's got to be a cave somewhere!" Dawn shouts out angrily. "We're not just going to run ourselves to death!"

"If we try and find shelter, we'll die anyway." Paul replies sharply.

With that, he turns and begins to lead Chance down a very different 'trail' if you could call it that.

"Where you going?" Brock calls out.

"This way will be faster…."

"How do you know that!? We were given instructions to go this way!" Drew yells furiously. "I'm not going to follow you and get lost!"

"Well then, go ahead and face the storm, I'll be pack to pick up your frozen bodies." He growls and continues along the path. I turn sheepishly to them.

"He's right," I mutter, "We've spent our whole life on this terrain and know how to mentally map it perfectly. The only chance we have is if we go that way. It's only around two and half-three miles to camp."

"It's rougher terrain though…." Drew mutters, "Couldn't that slow us down?"

"Calculated risk." I reply before turning Birch to follow Paul. Sighing, everyone follows. They have nothing better to do, and like many people, they are selected for not just their skills but their determination. They aren't cowards and would rather go down fighting then go down waiting.

Paul is several yards ahead of me when he stops, holding out his hand to motion for us to stop. Chance has her ears lay back, her head lifted to the air, her eyes wide.

Birch suddenly reacts in the same way, though slightly more violently, tossing his head. I look ahead where Paul has drawn his bow, stepping from Chance.

"Get back on your horse." I growl, surprising myself.

He glares at me, which I meet with my equally fierce one.

"I said; get back on your horse." I growl again, "If it's something dangerous, you're safer on Chance." He ignores me, making my anger rise in my chest. "PAUL-"

"Shhhhh, I need to hear!" he snaps at me, kneeling slightly, looking up into the trees. No one moves, and I for once keep my mouth shut by the seriousness in his tone. We continue to stand there, waiting for him to either fire his bow or put it down, he does neither, though he stands up and lets the string of his bow go loose.

"What is it?" Dawn whispers, moving forward slightly.

"Chance got spooked….." Paul mutters, "She never does that without a reason….."

I snort. "Chance is a pretty easy horse to scare, Paul."

"She never stops walking…."

I blink. He's right-

A howl like shriek fills the forest, and we whirl around.

Paul draws his arrow, firing at the huge beast.

It is at least ten feet tall and several feet wide. Its bear-like body is covered in thick feather like fur and its hands are the size of plates. On each end to the ferocious weapons, are six inch claws. Its head is armed with a huge, jagged beak.

It has the appearance of an owl-bear hybrid.

The arrow, fired at its head, is simply deflected by one of the large paws.

Paul fires two more but does not even come close to injuring the beast.

"Paul! Get on Chance and run now!" he does quickly, pushing her into a gallop which we all follow, the beast, close behind surprisingly fast for its incredible size.

None of us even think of stopping to attack, we keep up the grueling pace, knowing that it is the only thing keeping us from the horrible fate if we were to stop.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you so much for continuing on with this story! I also want to say a special thank you to Sakuyachan16, I really appreciate all the reading you do of my stories and especially the constant reviews. **

Chapter Six:

**Paul:**

I can feel Chance's strength giving out as we climb to the top of our fourteenth hill. I know that she's going to collapse soon but I dig my heels into her side, edging her on.

Ash at one point has to help me, grabbing Chance by the reins and pulling her forward. All the horses are exhausted, but we cannot stop in fear of the creature.

Without warning, Birch rears up, lashing out with his front hooves. Ash struggles to stay on but manages.

"What's going on-" I cut off as I see three more creatures advancing down the hill. "Everyone, turn back!" We do but face the one already chasing us, on either side we have impossibly steep rocky hills which we would be unable to climb.

Cursing under my breath, I draw my bow again, firing three more arrows at the owl-bear creatures. Ash joins me, but only gets around two or three shots before Birch is spooked again.

I reach for another arrow but find my quiver empty. I grab ahold of Birch's reins and try and hold him down.

"Ash! You need to shoot! I'm out of arrows!" I shout but I doubt he can hear me. All the horses have been driven into a panic. I leap from Chance's back, drawing my dagger. Gary and Dawn join me.

"Does anyone else have bows?" I ask quickly. They shake their heads.

"We didn't think we would need them on this trip…" Dawn whispers, she has her own dagger out. The large creatures move forward, reading for an easy fight….. I hear a scream coming from May as one of the creatures advances on her, ready to attack.

I lunge forward at the creature, slipping under its arm before stabbing upward into the armpit. I don't think I inflict much damage before I am shoved away by an incredible force. I can feel my back split open as I land roughly on the muddy gravel. I roll onto my back before trying to stand up.

Agony shoots through my spine and I slip on the rocks. The owl-bear approaches me, raising its hand for the final blow-

Birch's front legs come crashing down on the creatures back, removing its attention from me. Ash, directing his horse, turns him abruptly and leaps off it so that he lands next to me.

"Can you stand?" he mutters as he grabs my arm, pulling me to my feet. I almost collapse but he supports me weight. I gasp and move my hand to my back, when I bring it back, it is covered in blood.

"Where's Chance?" I ask worriedly. The crowd of horses and people fighting is impossible to see through. The creature that had been pursuing me has joined the crowd again.

"I don't know, but we got to get back in there," he replies before picking me up. I yelp in surprise but he ignores me, placing me on Birch. I have to lean forward on the saddle, unable to straighten my back. He gets on behind me, leaning me back against him. I hate the stupid feeling of helplessness, but he doesn't seem to notice or care.

He smirks at me quietly. "Nice move though, you're the only one other than Birch to actually damage any of them."

"Great amount of help that was," I reply sarcastically. Birch rears up again and his grip tightens on my waist to keep us both aboard. I see Chance in the crowd. She is continuing to kick one of the creatures, cracking her powerful hooves against its beak and head.

I grit my teeth, knowing that even though I want to be on her right now, my injury would probably not allow me to stay on. I can tell that though other than me there have not been any serious injuries.

Barry finally shouts over the noise.

"Paul! You're a Dare'th right?" he yelps, "Then teleport us out of here!"

"_You want me to do what?"_

"Teleport us." Gary shouts as well. "It is possible for you to make a portal and instead of traveling universes, you simply take us several miles away!"

"I'VE NEVER EVEN OPENED A PORTAL! NEVER EVEN TRIED!" I cry out to him angrily.

"Try!"

"I don't even know where to start…." I mutter, looking down at my wretched mark. I rub my hand over it and it begins to tingle… but that's usual.

I flinch as one of the beasts breaks through our circle.

I close my eyes, clutching Ash's arm tightly, ready for the blow to come-

"AYYYAAAAAAAAAA!" a voice shouts from the trees, swinging downward from the cliff into our bucket of chaos. He is hanging onto a rope, his foot hooked into a loop and he continually fires arrow after arrow from a long bow at the owl-bears.

He lets go of the rope and lands on top of Chance. She tries to buck but he controls her before removing a sword from his belt. He continues his attack and we feebly begin to help him.

Finally, the creatures break off the attack, running back towards the forest. He jumps from Chance's back, probably realizing that she was NOT a good horse to ride.

"Hello young ones." He says joyfully. "Why don't you come with me?'

Hey, arguing with this guy and a sword really aren't good options, especially after learning what he can do.

….

He leads Chance by the reins for I cannot move without causing myself extreme pain. Ash supports me carefully as we follow him through the now dark valley. The blizzard has started.

He shows us to a small opening, just wide enough for the horses. We enter Chance and him coming last. We walk into a large cavern where a fire place and several animal furs wait for us.

He shows us where some water is for the horses before helping Ash take me down from Birch's back. I at one point let out a pathetic whimper, despite my attempts to stop it. He bites his lip sympathetically but I ignore it. They bring me to one of the beds made out of skins.

After laying me down, he goes to boil some bandages, leaving us alone. Everyone finds a seat near Ash and me before beginning to talk.

"Who is he?" Dawn whispers.

"I have no idea," Brock replies, "I've done that trail hundreds of times and neither have I seen him or the creatures."

"He seems nice enough," May says, "I mean, he saved our lives and has been nothing but kind since then."

He comes back into the room and we all go silent. He removes my cloak and tunic before examining my back. I can't see it, but I hear the groans that flow through the room. It can't be good.

"It is mostly skin damage I believe…." He mutters before beginning to apply herbs. "This will keep away any infections… those claws were probably dirty….."

I flinch as his hands touch my bare skin, his fingers rubbing the damaged area.

"Sorry…" he mumbles before continuing to tie the bandages around my chest. Ash says something so quietly I can't hear it.

"What?" I growl at him. Blushing, he replies.

"You're really small."

He's unfortunately right…. I have a slender build, though not in the ugly way. I am strong, my muscles are easily visible, but they are not large in the way of buff. They are quite lean. I glare up at him.

"So?"

"I've never noticed…. You wear really baggy clothes."

"So do you."

He shrugs, going back to twiddling his thumbs. Finally, I am allowed to put my shirt and cloak on.

"So, you might as well know my name." the man says. "I am Taanach." We introduce ourselves. "I must ask you to not give away my location, I am at the moment, in hiding."

"If we can't tell them about you, how do we explain how we escaped from those things, not to mention how we survived the blizzard!" Dawn says.

"Tell them that you managed to out run the beasts and found a cave, I simply beg of you not to tell of my existence!'

After ten minutes of arguing, we agree on one condition, we learn why he is in hiding.

Sighing, he tells us.

"I am one of the few in the world, about as many as there are Dare'ths. I only exits in this universe, making me valuable to an army. The reason being, that my actions cannot be guessed as easily. No one else thinks like me." he raises an eyebrow. "I do not believe in war and refuse to help it."

We leave him alone after that. We are all soldiers. Ash and I really don't have a choice. I am a Dare'th.

We are practically owned by the war.

**Oh yeah, Sakuyachan16, to thank you for all your reviewing, I was wondering if I could make a character for you in any of my stories. I'll do it if you want, let me know which story if you do. :D (Also, if you want to pick a name, any name, you can give that to me. Or I'll just make one up. If you want to, you can also give me a personality.) Won't do it unless you want. Thanks!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Ok, well here you go! Next chapter coming soon! (Kk, no character. Thanks for the reviews though! :D) Sorry if this is short, I wrote it before but my computer deleted it….. I can't seem to restore it. **

**Well, bad luck!**

Chapter Seven:

**Ash:**

Two days after we got back. Paul's back was fixed, and we hadn't told anyone about our time in the woods.

Now, Paul and I were standing face to face, about to fight each other. The winner, being the one who could get the other to surrender.

The fight didn't end until then. I look over at Paul. We are both wearing only black boxers so that there is not interference in the fight. I grit my teeth as I listen to Sam's pep talk.

"You know each other's weaknesses and each other's strengths. Paul, you are fast, flexible and agile, but once caught, you will have trouble getting away for Ash, you are stronger. This is a test of your will as well as your strength. The battle is only over when one gives."

I prepare myself, ready to leap at any moment.

"Begin."

…

Two hours later, I have been holding Paul down for over an hour and a half. I glare down at him.

"Give up already." I growl, frustrated. Sam is just amused, watching us struggle on the ground.

Paul doesn't reply, just decides that he does not have enough strength to life me off. He switches weapons, biting into my arm. I yelp with pain and slap him. He bites that hand, hard.

Sam loses it, laughing.

"You two are too stubborn!" he shouts out. Paul tries to flip us, using his legs to launch himself into a back flip but I push weight onto his legs, smirking down at him as I remove my hand from his mouth. His eyes narrow and he struggles some more but I have him easily pinned.

"This isn't going anywhere Paul, give up." He shakes his head, deciding to wait it out.

…..

The day is ending… I am exhausted and sore, but probably not as sore as Paul. I've been on top of him since early this morning and by the way he is shifting he's uncomfortable.

"This is stupid…" I say, turning to Sam. He is leaning against the wall, grinning at us while shaking his head.

"I declare that Ash is the winner. Paul, I'm impressed with your stubbornness but this is getting ridiculous. You've been pinned for almost twelve hours." He raises an eyebrow at me. "That means you can get off Ash."

I roll off him, blushing slightly. He gets to his feet.

"You two go get something to eat." Sam says, turning to go talk to Riddle. "I got to report how this training session went."

Paul ignores me as we walk to the showers, picking up our clothes as we go. I swallow when I realize that I'm staring at the way his muscles are moving, on the shine that the sweat is creating on his body.

I quickly look away. After showering we walk to dinner, meeting up with Dawn and May, who we learn are bonds and have been training all day as well.

"So, how was your day of training? Learn anything interesting? What did you work on?"

Paul remains silent so I answer.

"Oh…. Scrimmaged…."

"All day?!"

"Yeah, actually…." I say scratching the back of my head. They stare at me for a few seconds before nodding.

"Ok…."

We arrive at dinner and join everyone else at a table. They are all discussing what they have been doing all day. Paul and I are still adjusting to how much food there is and eat much smaller portions then everyone else.

"Paul." I hear a voice behind us. "Ash. You two will report for training tomorrow. I wish to practice Dare'th skills." Riddle says. "The last Dare'th there is other then you Paul has disappeared."

Paul freezes. His voice hoarse, he replies.

"D-disappeared?"

"Yes…. No matter, as long as you are ready within the next month." Paul jumps to his feet. Glaring at the man, he storms away. I think for a moment.

"What's wrong with him?" I ask standing up to follow. Riddle looks just as confused as I am.

"Well, he better be over it by tomorrow. We need another form of travel." He leaves the room. Dawn suddenly goes pale and gets to her feet.

"Oh God… I know what's wrong….." she whispers, "Dare'th's are only found in certain family lines…"

"His brother." I realize, sprinting out of the room after him. I stop, realizing that I have no idea where he is. Thinking for a moment, I decide to try the stables. He may have gone to where Chance was. I run in that direction, cursing the point that Paul is faster.

I arrive at the barn and enter quickly. I am surprised to find Paul has prepared Chance for a ride. He glances at me but ignores me after that.

"What are you doing?" He doesn't reply. Glaring at him, I walk up to him, grabbing his arm. "It's Reggie isn't it?"

"I'm going to find him."

I close my eyes, but keep a firm grip on his arm. My mother went missing a few years ago…. I remember what that was like. I had wanted to search too.

"You're not even sure he's alive-"

Wrong thing to say….

"I don't give up easily, Ash. I don't care what the hell you say, I'm going."

"I won't let you." I grab Chance's reins, ignoring the point that she rears up. He glares at me.

"I don't care what you say, I'm going."

"I'll sit on you."

"I'll punch you."

"You couldn't before."

"I wasn't this angry before." He's shaking and his body is tense with adrenaline.

"The most you can do right now, is hope." I say to him gently, "They'll find him if it is possible, and the army needs a Dare'th."

He drops Chance's reins.

"What if he is dead?" he whispers, almost so softly I can't hear. I bite my lip and place my hand on his shoulder.

"Then I will help you get revenge on whoever killed him." I say truthfully. He looks up at me, his eyes for the first time since I've known him, completely open and vulnerable.

I grab Chance's reins and pull her away from him.

"Let's go back ok?" He nods and lets me unsaddle Chance and put her back in her stall. I pat Birch on the nose to assure him that I have not forgotten him before wrapping my arm around Paul's thin shoulders. He allows me, which sort of surprises me…. but I don't reject it.

I like the feeling of him trusting me.


	8. Chapter 8

**Reggie returns!**

Chapter Eight:

**Paul:**

For the first time in years, I wake up screaming. The scary part was I couldn't stop. My throat hurt, and I was barely conscious of anything but pain… but it was almost not physical. It was impossible to escape…. It was my own mind, burning…. There was no way to escape my own thoughts.

I push blindly through arms that are trying to hold me back. I hear voices, someone calling my name over and over again. I try and focus on that voice, try to let it pull me out of the hell I seem to be trapped in-

I gasp as the grip the pain seems to have on me is released, I collapse to the ground, vomiting over and over again. Clutching my stomach, I glance up to see my mark flashing red.

I watch as a sudden burst of energy, from seemingly nowhere appears, opening into a swirl of green, blue, red, purple… every color yet no color at all. Everyone in the room freezes, waiting for something to happen when without warning, Reggie and his bond Maylene come flying through it, hitting the ground hard.

Groaning, my older brother forces himself to his feet.

"REGGIE!" I scream hoarsely, pulling away from insistent arms only to collapse on the ground. "REGGIE! YOUR ALIVE! YOUR…. YOUR-ALIVE-"

I choke out desperately. He sees me and runs forward, embracing me.

I can barely understand what anyone's saying, I recognize a few names and words but most of it is meaningless. Suddenly Ash is standing in front of me, offering his mark to mine. I pull it back harshly but Reggie forces me to hold it out. I shriek, unable to realize why I am suddenly filled with fear.

My mark is flashing red and so is his. He places his forcibly on mine, holding it there.

All at once, the panic stops. I can breathe normally again.

I am also sucked deep into his mind. I see images, flashing around me that I am unable to comprehend. I see Sam… I see myself. I gulp, trying to pull back, trying to hold my own thoughts back-

They go rushing forward into Ash's waiting consciousness. He approaches me gently, almost comfortingly. I can make out a few phrases.

_Reggie used you to get home… he needed energy to form a portal and he contacted your mind and drew it from there… you weren't trained to handle it though so your mind panicked. I joined with you to calm you down. _

I can feel my body functions lowering back to their normal levels…. I am relaxed once again….

_Is Reggie ok? _I ask. I receive a yes before I manage to escape his mind.

"Reggie!" I yelp, my arms wrapping around my older brother's neck. He kisses my forehead before pulling me against him.

"I'm so sorry for worrying you! Not to mention almost killing you-"

"I don't care! Just don't ever disappear again!" I shriek at him, clutching him tightly. I ignore everyone else, including Ash who has his hand on my shoulder the entire time.

Then the exhaustion hits me. I am suddenly unable to stand. The room, which is filled with many people, including the ruler of the entire war, Cynthia, notices and several doctor's rush forward.

"He needs sleep," one of them says. "Everyone except for his bond clear the room-"

"Reggie!" I yelp, grabbing him tightly, but my hands are pried off.

"You can't, you must spend the next few hours with your bond or your body may shut down." the doctor says. "I will explain what is needed to Ash, everyone else leave!"

My arms are transferred onto another body, and held there until I give in. I feel myself being moved onto a bed and the second body moving next to me with the doctor's instructions.

My exhaustion grows and my breathing becomes increasingly labored. My eye lids begin to become heavy despite my fighting it.

"Don't." I hear a voice. I look next to me but my vision is burred.

"Who?"

"Ash." The voice replies. "You gotta relax. The doctor says so."

Whether I want to or not, the growing blackness makes it very hard not to sleep. Starting at the edge of my vision, it begins creeping into the rest of my sight.

The lights to the room go out…. well I'm not actually sure. All I know is that _I _can't see anything. I curl up next to Ash, needing the strange energy that seems to leak from him. His hand reaches up and feels my forehead, cursing slightly, before drawing my closer. I gladly allow him to….

My eyes close and I allow the exhaustion to take me.

….

I wake up the next morning, my vision finally clearing. Ash is sitting next to my limp form, his hand stroking my hair out of my face. I sit up abruptly, pushing him away and shaking my hair so it falls back in my face.

"How's Reggie?" Ash laughs playfully.

"He's fine. It was you who was in trouble."

"Well I'm fine so you're sure he's ok?" He nods, shaking his head. I leap out of the bed, searching for my cloak. Everything's been tossed around the room, making it very hard to cross the floor. Finally I find my cloak under the bed and slip it on quickly. "I'm going out-"

"Shouldn't the doctor take a look first-"

"I got to go find Reggie." I reply briskly before leaving the room. I jog out the door, looking around, trying to remember where Reggie's room number was. I know he told me once. Eventually finding it, I throw open the door to find Reggie sitting on the bed. With Maylene. Kissing her. I slam the door shut again, in shock.

I hear some mumbling inside and the door opens again. Reggie smiles at me.

"Good, you're awake-"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" I shout at him, surprising myself.

"Having a conversation with Maylene-"

"A CONVERSATION DOES NOT IMPLY THAT YOUR LIPS ARE TOUCHING!"

"Ok… I kind of figured this would happen…. Paul, Maylene and I-"

"You do know that bonds don't have to…."

"Yeah but it's pretty common, especially around Dare-th's, maybe you and Ash-"

"Shut up, Reggie. That's never going to happen." I yelp back at him. He smirks at me for a moment before sighing.

"Look, can't you just be happy for me-"

"Why would I be happy?! A girl means kids and kids mean trouble…."

"Why would that-Oh. You're jealous aren't you?" He smirks at me again and I turn away angrily. He takes one arm and puts it around my shoulders. I glare up at him for a second before looking away. "Look, you'll always be my little brother. No one can replace that."

I sigh and cross my arms across my chest. He kisses my forehead making me try and swat him away.

Laughing, "I'm just glad you're ok Paul." I finally give him a half smile and he squeezes my shoulders one more time. "I'll see you later ok?"

I nod, leaving him and Maylene in peace. I head over to the stables to say hi to Chance. She greets me, running up to the door of her stall, snorting. I run my hand down her long nose, smirking. She's full of energy again.

"Paul!" I turn to see Ash running up to me. I abandon petting Chance and turn to him. He swallows when he gets to me, biting his lip. "We have Dare'th practice today." I nod. Thanks for reminding me….

He tries to smile. "Good luck!"

I nod again, going back to petting Chance. I surprise myself with what I say next. "Want to go for a quick ride?" I ask quietly. Ash looks at me as if wondering if I am truly asking for his company.

"S-sure." He says, shocked, but by the grin on his face, pleased. "Yeah. Let's go!" He jumps to his feet, running to Birch and quickly getting his tack. I do the same and within minutes, we're riding out of the stables.

It's a cold morning, probably no more the twenty degrees out. I shiver slightly, drawing my cloak close. I look over at Ash, he's at the moment, dancing around with Birch, laughing as they gallop in circles around me and Chance, who refuse to break into anything fast then a walk.

I keep my hood low, keeping my face covered. I don't need him questioning me. I know I look nervous…..

I hear a sudden thud. Looking up worriedly, I see Ash laughing on the ground, Birch leaning over him with his nose in his stomach. The horse snorts into his bellybutton area before jumping away, challenging Ash to catch him.

Chance snorts at me indignantly, as if to say just how immature they are. I smirk at her, knowing that secretly, when I do play with her like that, she loves it.

I decide, that with what the afternoon holds for me, I can fool around just a little bit.

I leap from Chance's back, running off in another direction. She stares for a moment before joyfully trotting after me, knowing that she will easily catch me. When she does, she playfully grabs my hood, flipping it downward so my face is showing. I grab her nose and kiss it lightly as she pushes me over lightly so I am under her belly.

She noses my stomach and arms, knowing exactly how to tickle me. I laugh uncontrollably, trying to wiggle away but she is more then enough powerful to stop my escape.

Without warning, Ash comes sprinting by, Birch close on his heels.

"Catch up Paul!" he shouts before swinging onto Birch. For a second I freeze, kind of realizing what I'm doing and what it's probably doing to my appearance. Then, I swing onto Chance, chasing after him.

As we pull up next to him, he leans over, smirking at me.

"I caught you, I win." I say calmly. He shake his head.

"You have to _stop _me to win." He says smugly, turning sharply.

"How the hell am I supposed to do that?!" I shout after him.

"Figure it out!"

I chase after him until I am right next to him again, figuring it out, I reach out a pull his reins before holding them to me.

"Got you.'

He glares am me before sighing.

"You won."

I smirk at him, though it is gentle. He smiles at me.

"Thanks for inviting me to ride with you, we should probably get back now. We have to train soon."

I nod nervously.

"Yeah, let's go."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine:

**Ash:**

I try and keep my face blank as for the fourth time, pain surges through ever vein in my body. Paul, who is getting the worst of it, can't even stand. Whenever I make a move to help, Riddle holds out his hand to stop me. I glare at him furiously but I can't do much.

"You must concentrate. It should come naturally." Riddle says coldly. "Place your hand on your mark, and you should understand the rest of it to a certain degree. Once you are in position, Ash can help you complete the portal." I turn to him.

"That's what you call instruction! Tell him what to do don't act like he's an idiot for not understanding!" Riddle watches me with the same cold eyes.

"I know what I'm doing, I have trained many Dare'ths…. He just seems to have no ability." I grit my teeth.

"He has more ability then you have." He nods.

"That is true. But he must release the energy he builds up. When you feel the pain I know you feel, it is only his fault." He explains calmly. "When he doesn't release it, his body is forced to channel it through you."

"We're not even touching-" He grabs my arm, twisting it around so my mark is facing the ceiling. I immediately feel thoughts that are not my own enter my mind. I groan and begin to feel nauseous. The thoughts retreat angrily, though their anger is not directed at me.

"Stop!" Paul mumbles from the floor. "Don't do that…." My breath is coming quickly now and my head pounds with pain. "Are you ok?" Paul asks from the floor where he's propped up against the wall.

Surprised at his concern, I reply. "Yeah… I think so. You?"

He shrugs. "I don't really know what this is supposed to feel like."

I smile nervously. "Yeah… I guess you're right. It is a little strange."

Riddle rolls his eyes. "Enough with the conversation. Continue on." He points to Paul. "Again." Paul touches his hand to the mark on his arm, closing his eyes and waiting. Again I feel the warmness begin to creep through my muscles, giving me a feeling of almost invincibility. My breathing becomes calmer and I find that the pain is gone. My mark begins to glow and I glance over at Paul. His eyes are closed and his head is brought down to his mark, forming a psychic connection with himself.

For the first time, he is able to move. He sits up slightly, his eyes are blank…. Scaring me slightly. His hands rise to chest level and five feet in front of them, a small spinning light begins to form. Riddle begins to smile, looking excited.

I find my own hands beginning to help. I can tell that though I cannot make the energy flow, I can control it. The light grows, becoming a more obvious portal when, suddenly, the energy flow cuts off and Paul is thrown backwards.

"Paul-" I croak out, running towards him. He had hit the wall and was currently shaking his head, gritting his teeth. I kneel beside him. "What happened?"

"I don't know. I don't think it was me-"

"Of course it was you!" Riddle shouts. "You're the only Dare'th in camp other than your brother, and I'm real sure he's the one disrupting your practice!"

Paul glares at him angrily. "I didn't release that energy."

"Then maybe Ash messed up." Riddle says furiously. "You've got to at least try!"

Paul pushes himself off the ground but almost falls from exhaustion. I lift him up to support him. He doesn't reject my help.

"Again." Riddle says coldly.

"No." I answer before putting one of Paul's arms around my shoulders and wrapping one arm around his waist. "He's too tired." Paul gladly allows me to lift him, just barely supporting some of his weight.

"In battle, it does not matter how tired he is, he must be able to form a portal."

"We're not in battle. He's just learning." I growl back. "I'm going to take him to the infirmary."

"No… I just need rest…" Paul mumbles. I nod before helping him walk out of the room.

…

I yelp as Paul's foot comes crashing down on my shoulder. Another stupid training scrimmage….. this time, Paul seems to have figured out a different strategy. He still refuses to do anything other than jump around me like some kind of monkey, but whatever. I guess it's understandable. I probably weigh a lot more and if I were to land a hit it would do a lot of damage.

He does some sort of fast back flip to retreat again. He's so graceful yet powerful when he fights, I could watch him do his flips all day. Not to mention how damn flexible he is…

Another punch is all it takes to knock some sense back into me. A second yelp escapes me but I manage to grip Paul's arm before he can leap backwards again. He does some freaky shoulder twist and escapes.

Sliding backward on his bare feet, Paul faces me again, his stance ready.

Sam watches carefully, studying us, though mostly Paul.

"Stop." We do as he says. "Paul, I wish for me and you to scrimmage. Ash, take a break."

I take a step back to let him enter the 'battle field.' We are training outside in the pasture where the horses are currently running around.

"Sir, I doubt I can defend myself from you…" Paul says nervously.

"Nonsense, just do what you did with Ash." He says positioning himself. "You can have the first move."

He takes it, launching himself off the ground and sideways to try and aim a kick at his ribs. Sam dodges with ease before running in to grab Paul.

Neither one lands a hit for the first ten minutes or so, which surprises me. Paul is fighting with an expert. Finally, he does what he's been wanting to do for a long time. Sam teaches Paul about falling.

Paul did one of his impressive leaps back ward but this time, just before he lands Sam slides across the field, grabbing his leg. Paul lands roughly, and though he tries to defend himself, Sam pins him in a second.

"I give." Paul mutters. Sam gets off immediately.

"Good job, very nice." He's smirking.

Paul glares at him. "I still must dodge and jump as I do. I am unable to defend myself at close range, and it is the only way that I can be fast is if I am in the air."

Sam sighs. "You can learn-"

"No I can't. I am not built for that kind of combat." Paul says. "I wish to continue to fight in the way that I was first taught."

"You must adapt depending on the opponent."

"I know that."

Sam is about to reply when we hear someone clear their throat. We turn to see another trainer standing quietly. Behind him stand two more warriors, one absolutely huge and full of muscles and the other built like Paul. Smaller and obviously flexible, with lean muscles.

"Our names are Cayden, Robor, and I am Mentor Kal. We are the best warriors in your level; we wish to challenge you to a quick scrimmage."

Mentor Sam turns to us. "Are you to tired?" I shake my head. I'm fine, Paul's the one I'm worried about. Paul shakes his head as well. "Then we will except your challenge."

"Great." Mentor Kal says, smirking. We position ourselves carefully before preparing to move.

"Begin." Our mentors say together. I watch as Paul leaps sideways, preparing once again to go for a side attack. I stay center, to wait and help if he needs it. The larger of the two, Robor, goes after Paul while Cayden comes after me. Attack after attack is launched, a few hit.

It is hard to hit Cayden, he's like Paul with all the jumping and spinning. He seems to be everywhere at once. I try and trick him but he's smart and see's it coming.

Without warning, something hits the back of my head, knocking me to my knees. Robos had stopped trying to hit Paul and gone after me. He throws me onto my back so that my stomach is facing the sky and he raises his fist a second time to punch me-

Paul crashes into him from the side, knocking him away. I sit up immediately, kicking him in the face. I smirk at the shocked sound he makes before Paul leaps away once more.

Where's Cayden-

I hear a noise and I look up in time to see Cayden throwing Paul backward. He gets back up however and is about to attack again when Sam calls for a stop.

"I must ask you a simple question. Why gang up on one at a time? How does that strategy help you in anyway? In that time, the other one could run for help, or attack you through your blind spot."

Kal raises an eyebrow. "If I knock one of your men out then I can chase down the next one."

"I doubt you could catch Paul if he decided to take off. Paul could have bolted when you were attacking Ash." He shrugs. "And Ash could probably get away as well, especially with a head start."

"Why stop the battle for this?"

"I withdraw them from this fight. I have no reason to get either one of them injured which is what is going to happen if this continues. Or one of them is going to hurt one yours." He motions for us to leave the field. "We shall train tomorrow. Go find dinner and rest." We both nod, leaving them to argue their ideals.

"Thanks." I say once we are out of earshot. Paul glares at me.

"I only did it for the fight."

"Sure you did."

He smirks at me playfully. "Tomorrow, I'm going to beat you in that scrimmage."

"I'm going to sit on you during that scrimmage."

"If you can catch me."

"Wanna bet? Race you to the stables."

"You're on." Paul says.

"Go!" We take off Paul of course pulling ahead pretty easily… if I hadn't tackled him he probably would have won.


	10. Chapter 10

**Review if you get the chance!**

Chapter Ten:

**Paul:**

My hands shake with the effort of holding the portal open. It is growing, almost three feet in diameter now…. I bite my lip. It's impossible to hold open, but I push through.

Again, a different force, one much stronger then I am interrupts, closing the portal. I fly backward, hitting luckily this time the grass. I look up at the night sky sighing. I can't do it.

Chance is grazing a few meters to my left, but her head looks up to make sure I'm ok. I wave at her playfully to let her know I'm fine, and she returns to her grazing. I run my hands through my hair before blowing on them. It's damn cold out here….

I approach Chance slowly, offering my hand to pet her nose. She accepts gladly. I kiss her forehead before stroking the area between her eyes gently.

"How you doing girl? You like it here?" she snorts. "Yeah…"

I release her and turn to try again. I have begun doing nightly practicing alone… mostly with Dare'th portals but sometimes I just run, or practice riding Chance. I seem to have found a good location. It's quiet, and no one knows I'm here-

"Paul!" I spin around to see Ash galloping towards me on Birch. "God, I've been looking for you for an hour! Come on! We have to get back to camp."

"Why the hell do I have to do that?" I growl, slipping my riding gloves on.

"We've got our first mission! In another universe!" He says, his eyes shining with excitement. I raise an eyebrow.

"And how are we going to get there?"

"You!" I look at him worriedly.

"Ash, I can't-"

"Come on! Reggie's going to help you!" I nod. More like do it himself…

I hop onto Chance's saddle, preparing to go. I trot up to Ash before we both begin to canter back to camp.

"Do you know anything yet?"

"No, all I know is that we got to get back there fast. It's urgent. Some kind of assassination…" I urge Chance forward.

"Tell me these kinds of things!" I shout. Birch struggles to keep up.

"Slow down!" He yells. I glare at him and speed up.

…

We sprint into the main house, panting. We didn't even bother to unsaddle or horses, just yelled at a poor stable hand to do it.

We'd have to apologize later…

There are two other people there. Dawn and Gary. Though they are not bond partners….

"Paul-ale'gh, Ash-ale'gh. You are here." Riddle says from the head of a table. On the table, is some blue prints. "Please, sit down."

We do, waiting for further instructions.

He immediately starts staring at me. I look behind me. No. Definitely at me. I swallow nervously. Everyone is watching me. Do they know something I don't? No, everyone except for Riddle looks confused.

I look down at my hands on the table.

"Is there something wrong?" I say. Riddle stands up and walks towards me.

"Come here Paul." I stand up and join him, standing a few feet away. He approaches me in a second, circling me. "Someone get a measuring tape. Paul, take off that cloak. You don't weigh much do you…"

I blink. "N-no. What is this about?" I take off the cloak. Underneath I am wearing a tight gray turtleneck and long pants that are neither tight nor loose.

He ignores me. A woman has come in with a measuring tape. He points towards me and she begins measuring my waist and shoulders. She grabs my arms and begins to measure the circumference of my wrist.

She's reading out them to a man who is standing beside her. He nods.

"We can work with this." I glare at him as he pulls a scale out of a bag. "Get on." I do and he nods approvingly. "He'll do."

"With what?" I ask annoyed.

The woman grabs my hair, measuring it out with her fist. "We could do something with this. It's long enough."

I stare at her for a few moments. "What?" I squeak, "Are you going to do with me?"

"Some makeup will help. He's the most likely out of the two of them."

"To what!?" I nearly scream.

"Oh don't worry, honey. It won't hurt." She says. Riddle nods.

"Get going then. They leave tomorrow."

"SOMEONE PLEASE ANSWER MY QUESTION!" I shout at them. The smile at me.

"It's quite simple honey. A disguise. You're better fit for this one then Ash because you're smaller and you have longer hair that is easily controllable." With that, they leave. I glare at Riddle.

"What the hell, do you plan to do with me?"

"It is of little consequence at the moment. It will be explained tomorrow." He turns to us. "Now, in a different universe there is going to be an attempted assassination tomorrow of one of your counterparts. I am not sure yet. They are going to something called a 'pokemon trainer' convention. You will all be posing as 'pokemon trainers' with a catch. Your identities will be different to avoid a clash with your counterparts." He swallows.

"So, what are our identities?" Dawn asks. He smiles nervously.

"Um… well….. ok, you and Gary will be posing as a couple. They have your descriptions so you will be disguised well. You will be targeting a group of trainers that resemble, you Dawn, Ash, and Brock. That medic that is learning? Him. Gary, you should be with them. Break up if you have to."

Ash crosses his arms across his chest. "And what about us?"

"You and Paul will not be working together. You are following different targets."

"And who are those?" Ash asks.

"Ash, you will be following Paul's counterpart. Paul…."

"What?"

"You will be following the suspected leader of the operation. Though he will not be the actual assassinator, he knows where he will be. You are in charge of if you can, getting information out of him."

"Ok… how am I supposed to do that?" I ask.

"He… he has a thing for purple haired….girls." Riddle says nervously scratching his arm.

"But I'm not a g- Oh god." I say crossing my arms. "You're kidding me."

"Nope…. You have to, you are the only one with purple hair..." he says sheepishly. 'We didn't want to ask Dawn to color hers…"

"What if he makes a move on Paul if you know what I'm getting at…" Ash asks nervously. I glare at him.

"We're going to hope that doesn't happen. But if it does, deflect them casually Paul."

"And how am I going to get information out of him?"

"Flirt. Get him drunk. Something. Get creative."

I stare at him. Social skills are not my talent…

"You will all return here first thing in the morning. Hurry."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven:

**Ash:**

Everyone except for Paul was done getting changed. Those… devils… still had him in their clutches. I touch my hair feeling my normally messy brown tangles now carefully brushed out. I am covered in makeup and am wearing some kind of tuxedo.

I sigh. Looking in the mirror, it was scary how different I looked. I look over at Dawn and Gary. They're both looking pretty good. Gary is like me, his hair brushed in a way to hide his eyes.

Dawn looks pretty, her hair drawn up in a way that makes her look older and quite elegant. She wears a black veil with a matching dress, with plenty of lace and layers. A shawl is draped around her shoulders.

I hear a door open and Paul comes walking in, his face red.

He's… gorgeous. I swallow hard, blaming my hormones…

He's carrying white open toed high heels, his other hand holding up his dress so he can walk. His dress is white, at the waist it poofs outward, though only slightly before falling to the ground. It has a sort of tight bow at the waist, which along with the way if flows, makes him appear to have curves. His hair is brushes out with clips holding it back from his face. He does not wear a veil, but them amount of makeup does all he needs. And well, he somehow has small breasts. He glares at me and Gary and we look away. We had been staring.

Dawn lets out a slight giggle.

"Paul…. Why are you barefoot?"

"I can't walk in these damn shoes." She nods before linking arms with Gary.

"I got to teach you how to dance. Link arms with Ash. And put on 'those damn shoes.'" She says smirking. He does as she says, growling. I walk over to him and offer him my arm, smirking.

"May I have this dance?" I say jokingly. The slap I receive, is not at all lady like.

He takes my arm, probably out of a need for balance more than anything.

"Ash, put your hand on Paul's waist." I do as she says, keeping my eyes away from Paul's. "Paul, on Ash's shoulder. Now just move together like this." She shows us with Gary and I lead Paul in the movements.

"You're ready. Let's get going." Riddle says, Reggie and him coming into the room.

After getting through the final instructions and where Reggie would be waiting for us, we go.

The portal, was not easy to get through. You're flung in every direction yet you remain unmoving. Lights flash in all directions in seemingly every color. And when you finally get out, the world seems to spin.

I groan as I hit the ground. Oh god that hurt.

"Everyone ok?" Reggie asks. I get back up nodding.

"Yeah fine."

"Good, then get going. The party already started!"

We head off into the woods to find the building. It is large, with many lights and people. I stare at it for a few moments before Paul begins to walk. We follow him.

We get to the front gate before facing each other.

"Let's do this." Gary says confidently. Paul shrugs.

"You'll be fine." Dawn says. He glares at her.

"I hate my hair right now. Purple of all things…"

"Let's go." I interrupt. We all nod and head off in our directions, Paul still grumbling about his hair.

I find Paul 2 pretty quickly. (I am going to call all character from the pokemon universe *name 2.) He looks pretty much like our Paul… freakily so. His attitude is probably even grumpier. He's pretty anti-social and doesn't move much so he's easy to track. I decide NOT to try and have a conversation with him.

**Paul:**

How the hell am I supposed to find this guy without a description?! I've been walking in circles for ten minutes at least-

"Hey beautiful." I turn to see some guy surrounded by girls with purple hair. "What are you doing all alone on a night like this?" He opens up his right arm, the girl holding onto it pouting. "Come over here and join me."

Blushing, I do as he asks, though not touching him. His arm wraps possessively around my waist and he pulls me to him. I can hear my heartbeat pounding in my chest as he seems to analyze my body.

His other hand raises to my face, cupping my chin. My cheeks are burning.

"Calm down… I'm not going to do anything so early in the night… have a drink." He hands me a glass…. Probably alcohol. I've never drank before so this could have a bad effect on me….

I pretend to take a sip. "Thank you." I say, disguising my voice slightly. He smiles.

"Anything for a woman like you. I'm Parker." He says. "What's your name?"

I was given one beforehand. Still blushing, I answer. "I'm Adene."

"Beautiful. What does it mean?"

Oh God… not sure about that.

"I don't know…"

"I shall look it up some day… Have a seat," he says gesturing to his lap and shoving the other girl off. Not wanting to reject him, I do as he says. "Much better…" he begins stroking my hair. His other hand is pulling me to him to keep me from pulling away. I shift my weight, uncomfortable with his arm around my waist.

I decide that I need this information as fast as I can. I lean back against him, playing with his long goatee with my fingers. "So handsome…" I turn sideways on his lap to get a better look at him.

"What?" he breathes softly, shooing the other girls away.

I wrap my other arm around his neck and half close my eyes. "What are your plans for tonight?" I take my drink and hold it up to his lips, letting him sip it.

"Oh I don't know yet… depends on how far we take this." His hands slip down to my hips, pulling me closer. I don't resist, though I want more than anything to simply punch him in the jaw.

"It can go as far as you want…." I whisper, in what I hope is a sexy tone. He smirks.

"Your mood changes very fast. I like that." His hands begin running across my back, which is pretty much bare skin for it is only covered in certain areas by lace. "And in such good shape." He leans forward and begins to suck on my neckline, licking my collar bone area.

Worried he's going to discover my fake breasts; I shift my weight slightly so that I'm leaning against his shoulder.

"So… other than me, what plans do you have tonight? Anything… exciting or special?" I make sure that he continues to drink. We continue on with our conversation before I find exactly what I'm looking for.

"Just look up over there by that balcony. You'll see exactly what exciting means." Perfect place for an assassin. I smile at him.

"What's going to happen?"

"It'll be a surprise…" he whispers before kissing my neck again. I smile.

"Interesting…." I say, "What other surprises have you got in store…?"

He raises an eyebrow. "I think… we can leave that as a surprise as well…" I smile. This is killing me.

I sit up slightly. "I'll be right back, handsome. Just got to go reapply my makeup." I walk away slowly, making sure to swing my hips to keep him looking at me. I look around for Ash. There. I walk up to him, making sure we're out of sight from Parker.

"Ash. The balcony." I nod at him before heading over to the bathroom, making sure to wave at Parker first and smile as happily as I can. I walk inside quickly and freeze when I hear something that makes my blood run cold.

"Here's your bow, don't mess up. You have one shot before their on you." The voice is creepily familiar. I turn the corner just enough to spot who it is. Ash…

He's handing a bow to a girl identical to Dawn; a person like me is watching me from a corner, holding his dagger out in plain sight. I don't see Gary….

I hear someone clear their throat behind me and I turn sharply, almost slipping in my shoes. A hand catches me by the arm. I look up to see Gary smiling down at me. Not my Gary…

"Sorry Miss, you were blocking the way. I apologize if I scared you…" I shake my head, trying to smile back. My eyes drift down to where his hand is clutching my arm, making me swallow hard at what I see. A familiar tattoo…

"No no, I'm fine… I better get going." I turn and head out the door back into the huge hall. Sighing, I try and spot Ash, knowing I only have a few minutes before I have to get back to Parker…. I run up to Ash, grabbing his arm roughly. My feet are killing me…

"Ash… there in the bathroom. I think they might be the actual enemies of our universe. The ones we started the war for." He raises an eyebrow at me. "I saw the tattoo."

He nods, glancing over at Paul 2 to make sure that he is ok. "How are you doing with your target?" I shrug.

"I'm not good at all the touchy stuff." He nods.

"Just a little longer…" he looks at me again. "You have your knife right?" I nod. "Use it if you have to."

He leaves quickly, heading closer to Paul 2, watching the bathroom door cautiously. I head back to Parker.

He smirks at me as I arrive, handing me another glass of some clear liquid that is_ NOT_ water. I smile back at him before pretending to take a sip.

"You're too kind." I say before taking his glass from him and beginning to help him drink from it, probably going slightly to fast.

"Anything for you my dear…." I hate this mushy romance stuff…. I playfully sit back down on his lap. Taking a grape from a pile lying next to his chair I feed him as calmly as I can. "So… tell me all you find attractive in me…." he says smugly. I blush… what am I supposed to say…..

"Um… Everything?" I try. He laughs.

"Be more specific, my naïve little deer." Deer?

"Um… your beard…" I say twisting his goatee uncomfortably… not that he notices. "Your…. Muscles…." I whisper, playing with his biceps. "The smell of your cologne…" He puts his finger to my lips.

"I will now list what I find attractive about you, my rabbit." Rabbit? Deer? Where is he getting these? "Your hair, especially its color…. Your blushing is absolutely adorable, adding to the innocent way you carry yourself. I love your size, how easily you fit on my lap… and your eyes are the most unusual color. Amethyst?" I nod, looking down. I've got to get out of here…. Oh God… he's leaning toward me… I don't know how to kiss… I'm in SO much trouble…

A shriek rises from the crowd and I take the opportunity to turn in that direction. I hear someone, probably Ash, yell-

"Targets down now!" Parker begins to laugh softly.

"Looks like my little surprise is ruined…." I ignore him and get to my feet, staring out at the crowd. A second shriek and an arrow comes wising by. I run down the steps, shouting for people to get down before doing so myself when an arrow almost hits me. Nice sharp shooting idiot….

"EVERYONE FREEZE!" a voice rings out. I look up at the balcony… right where I told Ash to watch. Standing there, is Ash 3, Dawn 3, Gary 3, and well…. Paul 3. (the #3 is for the universe they are at war with.) But he's just standing in the corner, spinning the fricken dagger of his… Ash 3 is the one shouting. "OK, THERE IS NO NEED TO BE SCARED! ONLY FOUR PEOPLE ARE GOING TO DIE TODAY!" I grit my teeth, glancing over at where our group has our poor counterparts pressed underneath tables. "THEY WILL HAVE LITTLE TO NO EFFECT ON YOU, FOR THEY ARE NOT FROM THIS UNIVERSE-"

A trap.

There really was no reason for them to kill our counterparts.

We thought it was some odd strategy of war. I'm going to have a conversation with Riddle if we get back…

Reggie. I've got to get to Reggie. I try and get to my feet but another arrow almost hits me. I drop back down.

"NO ONE WILL LEAVE THE BUILDING UNTIL WE HAVE FOUND WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR!" I curse under my breath before looking around for the rest of my group. I make eye contact with Ash; he's under the table with Paul 2. He motions for me to crawl towards him.

When I manage to join him, he 'introduces me' to Paul 3. I nod. Still going under the name Adene. I get a grunt in return. He's got a bad attitude…

I notice red and white objects on his belt, he glares at me.

"What are you staring at?"

"N-nothing." I say looking away quickly. Do they have something to do with the word pokemon trainer? I peak outside of the table cloth to see two of our enemies walking around the room. Dawn 3 and Gary 3. Paul 3 and Ash 3 are standing in the corner. Paul's eyes are shut. I raise an eyebrow. "There's something different about my counterpart." Ash nods.

"That's true. He doesn't seem to in tune does he?" I glare at him.

"Counterpart?" Paul 2 says. I freeze, trying to smile. "You guys are the ones they're looking for?!" Damn intelligence.

"Yeah, and if you say anything I'll kill you." I say quietly. I'm pretty sure he believes me.

"But… if that's your counterpart and he looks just like me, that means you're my counterpart as well. But… you're a girl."

"Everyone seems to think that." I smirk. Ash snorts at the expression on his face. "Now that you understand me, why don't you explain those red and white things on your belt. Are they why you're a 'pokemon trainer'?"

He nods slowly. "They're my pokemon."

"Do they work as a weapon?" Ash asks excitedly. "We could use some defense here." He nods again.

"They do. Everyone in this room owns a few of these. Some are pretty pathetic though…"

"Are yours strong?" I ask. He nods. "Then use them, but only if you have to." He nods again. I reach under my dress, pulling out my hidden knife. He stares at it and I smirk. "I'm not going down so easily."

A new voice suddenly enters the room. This voice, is much different. It is cold, and empty. Its words are blunt and perfectly pronounced in slow precise syllables. I peek out from underneath the curtain to see Paul 3 standing next to Ash 3. Ash 3 is smirking.

"I…. I know where you are… You cannot hide from me." he begins walking forward, his hand extended. "Come out, there is no reason to hide….." Ash looks at me in shock.

"How the hell did he do that?"

I shake my head in disbelief. "I have no idea. We don't know if he actually knows where we are, or who we are… It could be a bluff."

"Dawn…" Paul 3 calls, "Prepare your bow, they're under that table." Ash tackles me roughly and we hit the ground hard. "There. Do not shoot to kill."

"Find the other two…" Ash 3 says happily. He turns and points across the room.

"There-" I throw my shoe at him, hitting him hard in the head. Everyone kind of stares at me in shock for a moment. It gives Dawn and Gary the time they need however, and they stand up, removing their daggers from their outfits.

"There is no reason for us to fight here. These people have no idea what's going on." Dawn says calmly. "I say we take this somewhere else." I notice that they are still carefully shielding the Ash 2, Dawn 2, Gary 2, and Brock 2.

Gary nods in agreement. "We have back up. The four of you can't fight against that."

"You see… you misjudge us." Ash 3 says calmly. "We have something you don't. Paul." I raise an eyebrow.

"Actually, he's right here..." Ash replies.

Paul 3 bends his head downward slightly.

"You have no idea, Ash, what exactly I can do."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve:

**Ash:**

Paul 3 had turned to face us. His eyes are different then Paul's. I know that they shouldn't be. I glare back at him, keeping Paul close to me.

"We have got to get out of here." Paul 3 says without warning.

"Take all the power you need. We'll retrieve the targets-"

"We've got to get out of here. Someone has picked up on my energy." He hisses, turning back to where Dawn 3 and Gary 3 are sitting. "We must retreat."

"We have faith that you can get rid of whoever it is." Gary 3 says quietly.

"I can already tell that we are equally matched! We _must _leave." He holds his hand out and his mark flashes as he calls upon his energy reserves. I watch Paul's reaction.

"Does he mean you?" I ask. He replies by shaking his head.

"Reggie. If Reggie picked up on his energy…."

"But Reggie's much more powerful then you."

"Something's wrong with him." I get the simple reply.

Without warning, a sudden amount of light fills the room. Paul 3 almost drops to the ground but gets up instead, glaring. A large yellow mouse stands in front of him, behind him, my counterpart.

"You aren't going to get away!" Not the brightest, this counterpart of mine. I get to my feet as well, pushing Paul behind me. I don't need them thinking that Paul is some kind of threat.

"Let them leave. You won't be able to do anything. Especially with a overgrown mouse…." I say.

Paul 2 grabs my shoulder. "That overgrown mouse, can shoot electricity." I glance at him for a second.

"What kind of weapons does he have?" Paul asks him, eyes wide. Paul 2 shrugs.

"He doesn't have much."

We turn back to Paul 3 to see his reaction. He glares at Ash 2 for a few moments before returning to his forming of the portal.

"We must leave. You, must learn when there is no use fighting." He says to Ash 2. Turning back to his friends he motions for them to come. They run towards him just as the portal opens. It suddenly shuts down abruptly. We all turn to see Reggie, standing quietly in the doorway.

"We'll have none of that, Paul." He says smirking at his 'little brother's' reaction. Paul 3 pulls back and holds out his left forearm, his mark easily seen.

"I need your assistance." He says calmly to Ash 3. Ash 3 runs towards him and Reggie is about to interfere when the mouse beats him to it, shocking both of them. Paul 3 this time, falls to his knees. Glaring at the mouse, Dawn 3 pulls back on her bow. Reggie gets there first, knocking her to the side and shouting.

"Everyone! Get out of the building!" No one has to be told twice. Sprinting for the doors, and no one tries to stop them. Paul 3 is crawling back towards Ash 3, holding out his hand, desperate for the contact.

Reggie turns over to us and motions for us to come. We do, standing slightly behind him. "We're leaving guys. They aren't after anyone but us." he says calmly. We nod in agreement and he holds out his hand to form a portal, which suddenly collapses in on itself. We look up to see Ash 3 help Paul 3 up.

"You're not going anywhere…" Dawn 3 mutters. "Good luck getting rid of Paul!" Reggie holds out his hand again, trying to form another portal but it doesn't work.

"Damn it. I can't beat someone who has their bond with them…" Paul grabs Reggie's arm.

"Take power from me." Reggie looks like he is about to refuse, but changes his mind when glancing at Paul 3. His hands are tight around Ash 3's left wrist, his breathing speed increasing.

Reggie nods, grabbing Paul's wrist roughly and pressing it to his forehead. I can't really do anything to help. I glance over at Gary and Dawn, they look just as helpless. It's simply a race now. Whoever finishes first. Why they want to kill us I don't know. Other than the point that we're enemies, but we've never done anything.

Paul 3 suddenly snaps his eyes open, looking up at us. He sits up slowly. Ash 3 collapses but he ignores him. He cocks his head at us before swallowing.

"What's going on? Why doesn't he do something?!" Dawn whispers, her eyes wide. Gary, who works in the medic/science department, a scientist at heart, stares at Paul 3.

"I don't think he can move. At least yet. His body is overloaded with energy… his hearts moving at a rate that could result in a heart attack. His breathing indicates that." Gary stands up. "He's defenseless for the moment." He draws his dagger. "We should kill him." I stare at him shocked at the venom in his voice.

"Gary… I know he wants to kill us but why can't we capture him?"

"No time. He's more powerful then Paul. I don't know how but he is."

"They're counterparts, they can't be different."

"That's a past theory." He replies. "I don't want to get to close… I wish I had my bow."

"Why?"

"He can probably disrupt my cellular structure if I get to close…." Not really understanding what he means, I swallow hard. Reggie suddenly pulls away from Paul who drops to the ground, unconscious.

Reggie's hand shoots out and he forces the portal quickly. I grab Paul and waiting for Reggie's signal, I throw myself in. Dawn and Gary follow quickly. Reggie, still watching Paul 3 with wide eyes, jumps in as well.

….

Paul, Dawn and I are sitting in the lab, listening to Gary while he uses a computer to try and figure out how the difference between Paul and Paul 3 is possible, or even there.

"Look, little things are possible. Sometimes even big things. Sometimes even abilities. But when both of you are Dare'th's you should have the same amount of power." He glances up at Paul, who's still exhausted from his ordeal with Reggie. "That means you have that potential power. It is just accessing it that must happen."

I am not actually sure that Paul hears him. His eyes are closed and I'm pretty sure that he is falling asleep. I lean over and touch his shoulder softly. He doesn't react.

"He ok?" Gary asks. I nod, smiling slightly.

"Drained from Reggie taking his energy. Didn't get much rest the past few days thanks to all the practicing Riddle is making us do."

"Practice? What?" Dawn asks frowning.

"Dare'th. We did some archery on horseback today." I rub the back of my head. "And we've been coming here every night. To the lab I mean."

"So… little to no rest." Gary smirks. "And he finally fell asleep sitting up." I smile slightly before leaning over to Paul again. We're sitting down on lab benches, so it's kind of freaky that he's still sitting completely straight. I move my bench closer to him before leaning him against me, wrapping my cloak around him. His is in the wash thanks to a little accident that happened…. Chance bucked him off into the mud… courtesy of Drew.

I then look back up at Gary and Dawn. They both have cocked their eyebrows and are smiling slightly.

"What?"

"Nothing…." Dawn says calmly. "So, what are you going to report to Cynthia Gary?"

He shrugs, turning away. "I really don't know. I'm going to tell her that Paul has potential, but I need further examination of the other Paul to find out the rest."

"But with him, you could?" I ask, interested. He shrugs.

"Probably. Unless it's just natural or his personality. But there was something wrong, especially with his eyes…" I nod.

"So… I guess that's it."

"Yeah…" Gary mutters softly.

"See you guys tomorrow." Dawn says getting up to leave. We wave to her. I stand up as well, wrapping my arms around Paul. He shifts slightly, holding onto me. His eyes remain closed but he walks a little, with me mostly supporting his slight weight. I nod to Gary and he nods back.

Walking out into the freezing night, I head towards our dorm. At one point, he shifts again, looking up at me. I almost think he's going to say something but he doesn't, just lowers his head and closes his eyes again.

Arriving at our dorm, I head over to the bed and lay him down quickly. He twists slightly, still holding onto my shirt with one hand.

"Paul?" I ask uncertain if he is awake or not. He shakes his head and pulls himself against me, his breathing has slowed again and his chest is moving ever so slightly. He lies down slowly, still gripping my shirt, pulling me down with him.

"Cold…" is all he says and I pretty sure it is subconscious sleep talking.

"You want me to stay?" I ask nervously. He mumbles something and snuggles up against me. I get in the bed slowly, allowing him time to reject me. He simply lies down with his head on my shoulder, completely asleep within a minute.

I smile, even though it is too dark to see it, stroking his long hair. Looking over at the window, I can just see the stars up in the sky. I surprise myself doing something without really thinking, I lean over and kiss his forehead. He mumbles again but doesn't wake. Jubilant, I lay back down, and go to sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

**Paul:**

At this point, I had pretty much had enough of the stupid training session. It had been fitness day… not something I normally dread, but today had been miserable. It was raining and snowing outside, so we couldn't stay dry, I was still exhausted, and we had been at it all day.

I glance up at Riddle. He was leading the session today; I knew that Ayden would probably not have allowed this if he knew what was going on.

"Next." He says calmly, pointing at Ash and me. We approach the line. We are in the middle of intervals. (I do this in track… they are torture) Four hundred meters run quickly, than two minutes later, we had to do it again. This was our tenth interval and neither one of us looks or feels ready.

I leap off the starting line, and he manages to stay next to me. I continue alone the path but neither of us is at our normal speed. Even though we are only a hundred meters or so into it, I can barely breathe. Ash is having just as much trouble and both of us are slowing down. Finally, I stop.

He follows suit.

"You ok?" he asks. I gasp for breath before answering.

"Yeah…. Just really frustrated. We've been doing this kind of thing all day!"

"It's fitness day!"

"Yeah well I never ran sixteen miles, intervals, climbed, swam, archery, scrimmaging, and fall practice all in one day!"

"True…." Ash says, still breathing heavily. "Not to mention little to no breaks..."

I rub the cramp forming in my side. "We should probably keep going."

"We could skip."

"What?"

"You know we could walk down to the river and come back in a few hours. We could even go get Chance and Birch." I'm interested in doing so, but I don't let on.

"What if Riddle finds out?"

"We tell him the truth. Or tell him Chance and Birch hadn't been run in a few days and ware getting fat."

Ha. Great excuse there.

I look towards the finish line.

"After this. Tonight we should go down to the river." I say. "It sounds like fun." He opens his mouth to ask me when I started enjoying being with him but I've already taken off with newfound energy. He chases after me and soon we're back in our calm silence.

….

Thank God that we're finally done. We had run two more intervals and were now in the locker room.

We've both already showered and dressed. Now, Ash is having a conversation with Gary while I brush my hair. When I finish, we all head to dinner, our first meal of the day.

"So, what did you guys think of fitness?" Dawn asks. I shrug.

"It was ok."

"I thought it was utter torture…" Gary mutters. "What does he think we are? Machines?"

"I've never even seen a horse run as far as we did today…" Ash replies as he shoves a huge spoonful of food into his mouth. All of us are starving, haven eaten nothing today.

May nods. "I agree with all of you! I'm exhausted!"

Barry has fallen asleep in his pasta, so I think that's his reply.

Dawn smiles. "Yep, so, anyone know what we're going to be doing tomorrow?"

"No idea." I reply. "Though I thought I heard Riddle mention something to do with horses. I'll ask after dinner. He told me to come speak with him then."

"Great!" she replies happily. "As long as it has nothing to do with me running, I'm happy!" We all nod in agreement.

When I finish, I wait up for Ash before heading out. I say goodnight to the others quickly before going to find Mentor Riddle. We find him outside at the stables, surprisingly with Chance.

"Mentor Riddle? You asked to speak to me?"

"Alone." I look at Ash apologetically; though he gives me a weird look, he nods and leaves quickly. I turn back to Riddle.

"Yes sir? What did you need?"

"I wanted you to answer a few questions about Chance."

"Anything sir."

"How old is she?"

"Four and half sir."

"So you have owned another horse before her?"

"Yes sir."

"What happened?"

"Accident sir. The horse ended up paralyzed from a bad slip in the mud…" I say sadly.

He nods. "Tragic. Do you find her obedient?"

"Yes sir."

"In your opinion, have you already rode her at her top speed?"

I frown. "I'm not sure sir. I've never seen her run any faster than what she does now, but I guess I can't be sure. She rarely sprints when I am not on her back."

"Let me answer that question for you. She holds back much speed, speed that I want squeezed out of her." he looks deeply into my eyes as he says that next thing. "A war is coming Paul. I need you to be my front lines. I don't want any chance of you getting caught when you're back there. That horse, is the only way I can make that happen. Are you willing to try a new technique to your riding?"

"Depends on what the technique is sir."

"Bareback riding. I'm sure you've done it, being from the north and all." I swallow.

"No sir, I haven't done it. Not with Chance. She doesn't like it, she has a very weak back sir. The only reason I can ride her is because of my slight weight."

"Do you mean to say that another rider could not ride Chance?"

"She'd buck them off in a second."

"…. Interesting…" he smirks at me. "Tomorrow, you will ride her bareback. This way, she will not have the burden of the saddle. Her movements will be more free." He looks down at my moccasins and smiles again. "I will get as much speed as I can out of that horse." He turns and leaves.

Ash comes back in, looking confused. I barely notice, simply leaning back against Chance's stall. When I do notice him, I frown slightly before asking him a question.

"Ash, could you teach me how to ride bareback?" He stares at me for a moment.

"I thought you knew how…"

"I used to. But that was with the help of Ayden. I can walk, sure… I mean gallop. At full speed. On Chance."

He looks at me like I'm crazy. "Bad idea. She spooks to easily."

"I have till morning to figure out how." I say simply. "Are you going to help me or not?"

"Why not instead of going to the river, we ride around the race track?" I nod.

"You do know how to do it right?" He snorts.

"It's really not that hard. First thing Sam taught me practically when I got Birch." He smiles. "And you have good balance so you'll probably have no problem!

….

I stand on the fence next to the track, Chance in front of me with no saddle. Her saddle rests next to me on the top strip of the fence near the post. I bite my lip before looking at Ash to confirm that I am indeed doing this right. He nods encouragingly from his confident seat aboard Birch, who he didn't even bother to bring the saddle for.

I slowly lower my weight onto Chance and immediately I hear her protest and start to back away. I manage to get myself on but I can hear her pain. But she's desperate not to disappoint me. She snorts and shifts slightly.

"Good girl… everything's ok…."

"Tell her to move." Ash says. "See, you already got the hang of it!"

I clutch onto Chance's reins, though I know that I shouldn't, and hope that she doesn't spook. She walks slowly, her movements cautious.

"Try a trot." Ash says walking next to me. "Keep your balance center, don't lean back."

A second later I find myself in the dirt, Chance running away from me. Coughing, I get to my feet. Ash looks at me sheepishly.

"What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing as far as I can tell…. Why don't you try Birch?" I look at the larger horse nervously. "Come on, he's really friendly!" I glare at him before sighing.

"If you think it will help…"

Birch is bigger around the middle then Chance, so just sitting on him is different. The second is how calm he is. His walk is surprisingly steady and I even manage to get into a slow canter, my hands clutching his mane impossibly tightly.

"Great!" Ash shouts. He doesn't even bother to try riding Chance. She snorts and looks jealously over at me. Ash strokes her nose. "Aw… I think she misses you. Look at her!"

I trot over to her.

"Want to give it a try Chance?" I say slipping off Birch and climbing onto her. I feel a surprising amount of determination as she begins to walk. Then she stops again, flinching. I sigh. "If walking hurts you… how are we supposed to gallop?" Her head reaches back, grabbing one of my long sleeves and pulling me forward. "What-" I find myself laying across her neck, my arms wrapped around it. My legs stretch back until they come back up to her back, my toes meeting there.

Her walk immediately improves. Ash looks interested.

"I get it, your weight it spread out now! You're like a second skin to her!" he smiles. "I bet your barely noticeable now!" I smile happily before frowning.

"How do I control her if I can't reach my reins?"

"Talk to her, make sounds with your mouth, squeeze her sides with your knees."

"And stop her?" I say quietly. He frowns before smiling.

"Your hands are right next to her head; just give her a little tug!"

A second later I'm galloping around the track without a second thought. Riddle was surprisingly right, her speed increased by quite a lot. The ease at which she is running is incredible and I don't feel her give way to any pain.

As I come around the track and come to a stop, I am about to ask Ash a question when a large alarm goes off back at camp.

I turn Chance quickly towards the noise.

"Ash, what's that?" He's frowning.

"I have no idea-"

"THIS IS CYNTHIA, LEADER OF THIS TRAINING CAMP, AND THE ENTIRE FORCE WE STAND FOR! WHAT YOU HAVE DONE IS AN ACT OF WAR! ALL TRAINEES AND MENTORS, THIS IS A DIRECT ORDER! THE CAMP IS UNDER ATTACK. ALL SHOTS ARE TO BE AIMED TO KILL!"

I freeze, turning to Ash who as gone deathly pale. Suddenly, a loud explosion echoes through the cold mountain air.

"What was that?" I whisper. He turns and looks at me.

"Let's go find out."

**IMPORTANT: if you read this when there was that site at the bottom, sorry. I have pranksters in my family. Not even sure what the site was, just deleted it…..**


	14. Chapter 14

**Thanks for reading, please review!**

Chapter Fourteen:

**Ash:**

We arrive at the camp at a full gallop. We have re-saddled our horses so we have no balance issues as we ride through the narrow alleys.

"Stick together." I say to Paul who nods in agreement. We turn to the right in time to see a massacre occurring. Not in our favor.

I bite my lip in frustration. "What brought this on?" I ask quietly.

"No idea…"

"It was a rhetorical question."

"Oh. We should help.'

"I don't want to add to the confusion…"

"I don't want to just stand here." He replies coolly before turning Chance around. "We could climb to the top of one of the buildings and shoot arrows down." I nod in agreement before leading the way.

Halfway there, several people from the other team on horseback fine us, chasing after us.

Arrows wiz past us but we try and ignore them.

"Cowards! Fight back!" one of them shouts. I grit my teeth, about to do just that when Paul shakes his head at me and tosses me Chance's reins.

"Don't let me crash." He says calmly before turning around on Chance so he's riding her backwards. Loading his bow, he fires several shots at them, each one hitting different men in the arm.

"Kill shots…" I mutter. He glares at me. I sigh, looking over at him sympathetically. "Paul…" He turns away from my gaze, aiming another arrow, this time for a man's chest. He sees this and looks up at Paul with tears in his eyes.

"Please…. I have a wife and children…. I promised I'd come back to them…" Paul's hands are trembling.

"Paul! Shoot him!" Cynthia's voice rings out from on top of a building. "They don't deserve to live! They're bloodthirsty barbarians!" Paul ignores her, simply watching the man.

"Please…." He releases his grip on the string, hitting the man dead in the heart. He drops to the ground, lifeless. The rest of his group doesn't follow, turning in the opposite direction.

I turn to him again. He's readjusted himself on Chance so that he can ride again and is ignoring my gaze. His hands are still trembling.

We turn a corner to where we planned to climdb up the roof. Out of nowhere, a rope suddenly finds its way around my neck. I yelp as I am pulled off my horse, hitting the ground hard. Paul pulls back on Chance and holds Birch back, glaring upward at my attackers.

Paul 3 and Ash 3.

Ash 3 smiles at the shocked looks on our faces.

"Long time no see." He smirks. "Don't worry, neither of you are going to die today. We have _special _orders for you two." I glare at him openly before turning to Paul.

"Get out of here." He looks down at me, frowning.

"No."

"Good choice…" Paul 3 says quietly. "Your movements and choices decide how tight this rope is." I feel the rope tighten slightly on my neck. "You know what happens when it gets to tight…."

Paul growls slightly at them. "What do you want?"

"Get off the horse." Ash 3 says. He slips to the ground without a second thought. "Good, now don't move." Ash 3 begins walking towards him. Paul 3, holding my rope, smirks at Paul's frustration. Ash 3 is holding a small medical bag. "Hold out your arm." he says calmly.

Paul does as he says, though reluctantly.

"Paul…" I say warningly. "Get out of here!"

"They'll kill you."

"I don't care! You have no idea what's in that thing!"

Four arrows come flying at Ash 3 and he drops the package, shielding his face-

They all stop an inch before they hit him, dropping to the floor harmlessly. Paul and I stare at Paul 3. His eyes are glowing and his hand is outstretched.

"Dare'th does not translate to psychic…" I mutter under my breath. "What the hell are you doing?"

Paul 3 smirks, his eyes returning to their normal color. "Very simple, I've been practicing." He turns to where the arrows came from. Reggie, Maylene, Dawn, and Gary are standing there; shocked.

With another wave of his hand, Dawn, Maylene, and Gary go flying backward into the wall, where a metal pole bends around them tightly.

"You're crazy," Reggie mutters. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I am the strongest Dare'th in all of the universes."

"Dare'th's have the ability to jump universes. Not…. this…" Reggie says worriedly. "What are you doing?"

"I have developed past that. It does not take much to learn how to manipulate the universe you are in… especially when you have the right amount of power…"

"Then, for whatever reason you want my brother and his bond, take me."

"And me." Maylene says. "If you need a bond, don't use Ash."

Paul 3 shakes his head. "Our orders are for these two."

Ash 3 turns to Paul again, opening the box.

"We don't need you doing any kind of fancy escapes." He says, removing a shot from the box. It is filled with a pure purple liquid that is not see-through. "Your arm." Paul does as he says.

"You won't hurt Ash."

"No more then we'll hurt you."

He is about to take Paul's arm when another voice rings out.

"Paul! Get out of the way!" Cynthia shouts. Paul pulls back immediately, kicking Ash 3's legs out from under him. I take the moment to use my dagger to slice through my ropes leaping to my feet to help Paul.

Reggie can only block so much of Paul 3's power, so we still every once in a while are thrown backwards, or hit with items laying around. And he's not a bad physical fighter, so getting in a match with him is not a good idea.

Cynthia has joined the fight, and to my surprise, she pulls me and Gary aside.

"I want you to listen carefully. I want Paul." I raise my eyebrow.

"Paul my bond?"

"No. The other teams Paul. I want him studied." She smirks, handing us a dart gun. "If you can get him by surprise, this will disable his Dare'th abilities." She smiles. "Go."

We run along the back alley ways until we spot Paul 3, leaping away from Dawn's powerful attacks. He is alone, with the rest of his team on the other side of the battle field trying to handle Cynthia.

Gary looks at me as if to ask if I want to do the honors of shooting it. I shrug and prepare the gun before aiming it quickly.

I hit him in the left ribcage area. He yelps and jump forward, looking down at his side. I surprised to see that the liquid it is emptying into his bloodstream is dark purple…. That's what they wanted to give to Paul.

Regaining his senses, he yanks it out but it has already done its job and there is no more liquid. He glares at us before calling out.

"I've been hit!" Ash 3, his bond turns furiously to us.

"Retreat!" Cynthia 3 shouts angrily. Paul 3 manages to form a portal, but he struggles. The medicine has not yet taken its full effect. Hundreds of soldiers run through, and we let them, to exhausted and relieved for them to leave.

Finally, when it is down to just him and Ash 3, he struggles, nearly dropping the portal. Ash 3 reaches forward to help him but he shoves him away.

"Go."

Ash 3 looks at him for a moment before leaping into the portal, just as it collapses.

Paul 3 hits the ground hard, glaring up at us.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen:

**Paul:**

I lay quietly on my bed, face down. I can sense Ash enter the room, but not attempt conversation. Doesn't take a genius to know I'm not in the mood. I can't stop thinking about the battle. I _killed _someone.

I shake my head, trying to not let the scene drift back into my mind. His begging… he had a wife and children… what was I thinking?

My mind jumps to Cynthia, trying to blame the blond leader. I jerk upwards, looking straight ahead.

No. I should have never returned fire in the first place.

_They would have killed you and Ash._

I don't care if they kill me!

_You would care if they killed Ash. _

I look over at him. He's sitting on his bed, taking off his moccasins. His eyes are downcast so he doesn't see me. I swallow hard. I would care if he died….. He looks up, seeing me staring.

Growling, I lower my gaze again. He smiles slightly standing up and walking over to my bed, sitting down on the edge. I glare at him for a moment but he doesn't care. He reaches out and strokes my hair out of my face.

"It wasn't your fault."

"It was, don't baby me. I released the string on my bow, not anyone else." He sighs and pulls me close to him. I lay my head against his chest. His hand strokes my back softly as I begin to relax.

"I don't blame you."

I bite my lip. "But I killed someone-"

"Who was about to kill you and me."

"I know… but he had a family-"

"So?" he says, frustrated. "Paul, you have Reggie. And me. I have… you. That's all I need." He props himself up on one elbow. "I don't care if it was Cynthia herself, if someone was about to kill you, I'd kill them without a second thought." I study him quietly, my mouth slightly open.

"Why would you care about me…?" I ask softly. "Cynthia's worth more than I am."

"To a lot of people. But ask me, or Reggie. We'd rather have you."

"You'd… rather have me?" He blushes and looks away. I smile slightly.

"Yeah…"

"Thanks… Ash." He smiles softly, his hand moving to my waist to draw me closer. I look up at him, realizing that I fully trust him. He is one of the few people in this world that I would even think of letting them hold me. He's probably the only one that I would like to get even closer to…. I blink. What am I thinking…..?

I lean slightly towards him, not really sure what I'm doing. Blushing, I'm about to turn away when I feel a light kiss pressed to my lips. I freeze for a moment before returning it. He pulls away, beaming at me. I smile back and snuggle against his chest.

….

"It's not going to work." Gary growls angrily at a Cynthia as she walks past with guards surrounding her.

I glance towards Ash. He's just as furious as Gary is. I'm still confused about what's going on. Gary explained it to Ash before I got here. I had to talk to Riddle this morning.

"Ash, what's happening?" He grabs my arm and drags me with him. He continues a whispered conversation with Gary. The only word I can make out is 'torture'. I pull back. "Ash, what's going on?"

"Your counterpart… they want information from him but he won't talk. Cynthia's going to try some… alternate methods to try and 'loosen his tongue.'" He replies. My eyes widen.

"Isn't that against our human rights law?" He nods.

"That's what Gary and I were discussing. They don't have the same law in their world, or they don't just follow it."

Gary turns to us, his eyes blazing. "We reminded her of the law. She replied that it only applies to humans. What kind of gross idea is she getting at?"

"Where are you guys going?"

"I've been asked to be present to make sure nothing hurts him beyond repair." Gary replies, shaking. "I have to watch…" Ash nods.

"I'm going because Cynthia asked me, you can come as well. It's neither public nor private. Just no one really knows about it." We enter another room. It is pure white and completely sterilized. We walk over to where a group of other physicans and surprisingly Dawn are sitting next to a window; which leads into another white room.

In that room, Paul 3 is standing quietly in the center, his hands held above his head by chains, as Cynthia paces in front of him. In the corner of the room, two guards wait with a familiar person in between. Reggie.

I frown. What is he doing here?

"This is your final chance, Paul." Cynthia says coldly. "Answer our questions or we will force you to."

"I thought you people had something against torture."

"The torture of humans." Paul 3 glares at her for a moment before dropping back into his empty silence.

"I have nothing to say to you."

"If that is your wish." Cynthia says. With incredible speed, she reaches out and slaps him across the face. He doesn't even look at her. "Throughout my time with you, I will be giving you different levels of pain, steadily getting worse as we go."

He remains silent, not even reacting to the slap. He shifts his feet slightly. They are held down lightly by some chains, but they have about a five inch slack.

Her hand shoots out and grasps his left wrist, turning to sharply to expose his forearm and mark. He pulls back against her this time. Bond marks are the most sensitive part of the body, just a finger touch can be annoying.

Any cut, is agony.

I clutch Ash's arm tightly, not really wanting to watch this but unable to pull my eyes away.

Cynthia, smirking slightly, runs her long fingernails over his mark, causing him to thrash, trying to pull his arm away. He's biting his lip hard enough to draw blood as he tries to break free. He still remains silent.

Smiling, she withdraws her hand. "Want to answer our questions now Paul?" He shakes his head stubbornly. "Then, we shall continue." She mutters, removing a knife from her belt. He watches it warily, only reacting as she began to slice it down his mark.

…..

Hours later, the sun is beginning to set and Cynthia finally, is on her last way of getting him to talk. Everyone in the room has gone dead silent, not able to take our eyes off of the horrible scene.

Paul 3's breathing is coming in short gasps and he strains against his chains to try and stay away from Cynthia. His mark is not visible through the blood that covers it. Shaking, he faces her blankly.

"Do you wish to answer the questions now?" she asks coldly. He shakes his head, going back to staring at the floor. "Reggie. Come here." Paul 3 sits up immediately, pulling back. He has been given the drug to keep him from using any Dare'th powers so he is unable to do anything.

Reggie walks up to him slowly, keeping his fair distance. Cynthia is smirking down at Paul 3, leaning in close to whisper in his ear. He flinches and pulls back angrily. Her hand shoots out and squeezes his blood covered mark. He screams from shock but quickly stifles it. Glaring at Reggie, he talks for the first time during his torture.

"Don't touch me." He hisses. Reggie steps forward, gently taking Paul 3's mark in his hand. He whimpers, shaking horribly.

"Do it Reggie. One way in, one way out. Take the information, and leave." Cynthia says, stepping back. Paul 3 thrashes wildly trying to escape to no prevail.

"If you remain calm, it is less painful." Reggie mutters softly. He receives a glare in return.

"Let go of me…" he shouts, turning back to Cynthia, he shouts something incomprehensible from where we are. She simply stands there, a blank expression on her face.

"Get on with it." She says. Reggie gently places his other hand on Paul's face. His mark pressed to Paul 3's, the room goes silent.

I begin to hold my breath, waiting for the reaction. Seconds turn into minutes as the clock ticks by, everyone waiting to find out which one of them was winning in their battle of the minds.

Without warning, Reggie flings himself away from Paul 3, gasping. Paul 3 begins to scream over and over again, throwing himself backward against his chains.

"I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!" he shouts over and over again, not looking at anyone in particular. His eyes are hazed over and seem not to see anything.

Reggie is lying on the ground, staring at Cynthia. She stares right back.

"Did you find anything of interest, Reggie?"

He glares at her. "None of it would be your concern. And you have the nerve to call their methods barbaric."

"All of it is my concern. What are you talking about?"

"You know." He says furiously, turning away. "And no. He did not reveal any information. He is too powerful for me to defend myself against. Please, do not ask for me to do that again."

He leaves the room without another word to her. Paul 3 seems to have calmed down enough to breathe, and pants softly, hanging from his chains, his wrists raw.

Gary finally reacts.

"That's enough, ma'am. He needs to rest." He says, gesturing to Paul 3. "I'll take care of him, why don't you go get some sleep as well." She nods, motioning for everyone else to come as well, including the guards.

"I think, he may be a bit to incapacitated to offer and real threat." She says to them, smiling cruelly. Gary runs inside the room. We follow quickly.

Paul 3 glares up at us. He tries to stand but his legs do not support him. Gary pulls out that horrible shot again and gives him the drug quickly, injecting into his neck. Paul 3 snaps at Gary but is too weak to fight him.

"Come on, let's get you down from those chains." Gary says calmly.

"Need some help?" Ash asks. Gary thinks for a moment before nodding.

Dawn and I stand to the side, watching as they undue the chains around him before lifting him. He breathing is haggard and his eyes are half closed. We follow them out of the room and into a different room, similar to the last one except with a cot lying in the corner. Before putting Paul 3 on that, they lay him down on a table in the center. He tries to crawl away but is easily held still. Gary finds a pack of medical supplies and begins to work on him.

"Paul, could you go find some clothes that might fit him?" Gary asks me quietly. I nod and run out of the room. When I come back, they have Paul 3's shirt off and are examining some particularly nasty burns on his stomach and chest. Gary looks furious. "They said this medical kit would be enough, but I guess not…" he sits up and hands it to Ash. "The damage to his mark and the burns covering his body, not to mention the lacerations on his back, are too much. I'm going to go get my real medical bag."

Paul 3 ignores us, simply rocking back and forth, clutching his left arm to his chest tightly. When Gary comes back in, he immediately gives Paul 3 several pain killers before beginning to stitch up several wounds. Finishing with the body, Gary reaches for Paul 3's arm.

Paul 3 nearly throws himself from the table. "Leave me alone!" he snaps angrily. Gary motions for Ash to hold him down.

"I have to look at it." Gary says gently. "I will be able to take care of any damage that could be permanent in the long run." He holds onto the arm tightly and stretches it out. Using a sponge, he begins to wipe away the blood. Paul 3 looks away and squeezes his eyes shut, letting out a whimper.

"Stop…" he says pulling against them. Dawn and I rush to help hold him down. Gary bites his lip.

"It's bad." He says softly.

"You think I don't know that?!" Paul 3 yelps.

Gary manages to clean away the rest of the blood. I recoil slightly at the mark. Gary takes my forearm gently and stretches it out to examine the difference.

What used to be silver is now flashing red; the sign of incredible injury to the body. Lines run across it in harsh red cuts and the area is swollen and irritated. Mine however, is just as it always is. Clean and almost glowing, a slight indent in my skin.

I recoil slightly at the sight but remain still so Gary can continue to process it. Finally, he lets go of Paul 3 and moves away for a moment, returning with a shot. Paul 3 glares at him.

"What's that for?"

"It'll put you to sleep for about four hours." He replies calmly. Paul 3 begins to struggle but goes limp when the needle is pressed to his neck.

"I'm going to run some tests on him." Gary says calmly. "I want to find out where the hell he got his power."

**Sorry such a late update! I've been really busy lately! My other story will have a new chapter up soon. (Within a day or two. I almost finished writing it…)**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen:

**Ash:**

We all stare up at the large computer screen, including Paul 3 who continuously scowls. He probably already knows what we're going to see. Both Paul and him are hooked up to separate machines. Helmets with wires running into the main computer.

"Ok," Gary says. "Ready." He turns to them and points to another screen. "I am simply going to record your reactions to everything shown on the board. Later we will look on the main computer." He swallows. "Let's begin." He pushes a button on a remote and the lights go off before a picture appears on the screen. A picture or me. Neither Paul reacts visibly.

The next picture is of Reggie and Maylene. Paul's fingers begin to dance across his chair's arm but no other reaction is visible. A picture of Cynthia, Chance, Ayden, Riddle, and Sam. Words such as Dare'th, protector, life, death, freedom, and control. Colors of all sorts flash across the screen until both of them appear to be in some kind of trance.

Gary grits his teeth as he presses another button on his remote. Nonsense appears on the screen, flashes of pictures, colors, sounds echo through the air…

A single picture forms in the center, a picture of the tattoo all people in their universe have. The one they are no matter what going to have different reactions too. Finally the machines power down and both of them collapse backward.

"I gauged my responses." Paul 3 growls out, "You won't get anything-"

"This was a far bigger test the response. This went to the mental level. To the subconscious. You can't hide anything there." He flicks a few buttons on his computer. "Your power comes from the subconscious… so that is where I must head."

About a half hour later he finally turns back on the main computer screen to show us what he discovered.

"Cynthia will find this extremely interesting." He says smirking. Paul 3 glares at him. We all turn to the screen where two diagrams are displayed. Gary points to the first one. "This is Paul. As you can see, his brain waves function like most Dare'th's, actually traveling in an almost circle _outside _his head. This allows him to make changes in the world around him. Especially opening a portal in the fabric of the universe. However if you look at _his _you can see that is brain waves travel in a much wider range."

Paul 3 raises an eyebrow, an obvious smirk on his face. Gary begins to pace in front of us, a frown forming.

"There is only one way I can think of that he could have obtained this… but there is only a slight chance that it would work..." Paul 3 closes his eyes and looks away.

"I am living proof that it works…" he looks over at me. "Why don't you explain to your friends here what you're thinking about."

Gary turns to us. "Can I talk to guys outside for a minute?" We all nod, and I help Paul walk out with us. He seems a little shaken.

"What is it Gary? Did you figure it out?" He nods slowly, looking down as his mind obviously thinks carefully.

"I'm slightly confused on how they did it, but I seem to have figured out what they did." He swallows hard. "Every person's subconscious has the energy a Dare'th has. The simply do not have as much or access to it." He looks nervous. "A Dare'th has some twenty times as much as a normal person… giving them the abilities they possess. As we know, there are only two Dare'th's on each side of the war at the moment, two Paul's and two Reggie's." he twiddles his thumbs, not wanting to get to the point. "Paul's counterpart has as much power has thirty five people. Let's do this in points to help you understand."

He turns to find a board. Finding one, he returns to us. "Here," he writes three things down.

Three sections. Average. Our Paul. Other Paul.

"Ok, so an average person has one point. Paul has twenty. Other Paul has thirty five. Fifteen more then he should have. Almost as if he had added another person to him…" he swallows hard. "I think that's what they did. They found a way to remove power from other people and place it in him." He closes his eyes. "You have to kill someone to remove their power."

Paul frowns. "You mean for me to become equal with him, I'll have to kill fifteen people?" Gary nods.

"Exactly. And I would have to figure out how to transfer the power."

"We can't tell Cynthia." Dawn snaps. "Fifteen people's lives. That's not human."

I look over at her. "We don't even know if she'd do it-"

"She would." Paul says quietly. "And you know it. But she probably wouldn't super power me. I'm…. to weak." He sighs. "Reggie's a much better choice."

Gary shakes his head. "There has to be a reason that they chose their Paul after Reggie… I think it has something to do with how your mind receives power. It's simply the luck of genetics. You can except the power from people where Reggie can't."

"So… Gary are you going to tell Cynthia?" Dawn asks worriedly.

He shakes his head.

"I don't want to be reasonable for any deaths. Especially of our own people."

"So it's agreed, we don't mention this to anyone?" I ask.

We all nod. Turning to return to Paul 3, we hear someone clear their throat behind us. Spinning around, we flinch as Cynthia comes into plain sight behind us.

"Interesting conversation you were having." She states coldly. "I'm sad that I wasn't invited." She walks past us towards Paul 3. He sees her and his eyes narrow. "Feeling better?" she asks sarcastically.

"Much." He growls, sitting up to face her directly. "Why don't you just _back _off?"

"I want to hear all about this power you have. Gary seems to have figured it all out."

He smirks. "Then why are you asking me?" Her hand whips out, slapping him. He recoils, before falling to the ground. He groans and leans over, clutching his knees and rocking back and forth. I make a move to go to him but Cynthia's arm stops me. "After all those hours of pain, all it takes is a slap to break you… Pathetic. Even our Paul could have done better."

I glare at her. Paul flinches at that comment.

"You know, once we've won this war…" she says kneeling next to him. "Or even now… you could come to our side. You'll be treated with respect. More than what you get right now." He doesn't move, his form continues to tremble, sweat beginning to pour of forehead. "Look at me." He doesn't move. Her hand lifts his chin. His eyes are half closed and his expression is feverish. "All this pain could stop… all I need is for you to take an oath. One of the old ones of course. The ones with your bonds life on the line if you break it. But you can do that can't you?"

He nearly collapses, his teeth gritting tightly before looking up at her. His eyes fully open.

"I would _never _side with any of _you." _He spat the last word in her face. She recoiled, wiping her face and glaring down at him. He looks down at the powerful chains binding his hands and feet. They snap. He rises to his full height, smirking.

"The dosage…" Gary mutters. "SOMEONE CALL REGGIE-"

He's cut off as the main computer explodes and he is forced to duck to avoid being hit with flying wires.

"No. The dosage was correct." He raises a hand and the door slams shut. "I had time to think during todays…. Fun…." He smiles. "I managed to release it through the pores in my skin." He wipes the sweat from his forehead.

Cynthia's eyes narrow.

"Don't try anything, Paul. Reggie can take care of you-'

"I am not scared of him. He can do nothing to prevent me from doing what I want." He suddenly doubles over, cursing. His mark is flashing red. Cynthia smirks.

"The fights over young one."

His hand shoots into the air, a portal appearing above it.

"Not quite."

I breathe a sigh of relief. He's going home…

He doesn't have the energy to stop Gary from overriding the door and turning on the alarm.

Reggie and Maylene come running in, immediately taking battle stances. The smirk they receive is confident however and he continues to focus on his portal.

"Listen, Paul." Reggie starts. "I don't want a fight. Just calm down…" Paul 3 shrugs and completes the portal but doesn't enter it.

Without much warning, people begin to fly through the portal, entering the room. Ash 3 runs to Paul 3 and presses their marks together. He nearly collapses with relief.

I am shocked to see Cynthia 3 land in the center of the room.

"If you want it or not, you're going to get a fight." She smirks. "And we're not going to lose this time."

…

I dodge the third blow that Dawn 3 has aimed at me. No matter what I do, I can't seem to focus on what she's trying to do. She's completely unpredictable.

I grit my teeth. She smirks.

"Give up?" she growls. I shake my head and aim another blow to her left ribcage, finally hitting her. She falls backward roughly and I prepare to kick her when a hand grips my arm tightly, pulling me back.

I spin around to face Reggie 3, smirking at me. Behind me, Maylene 3 is gripping onto a struggling Paul.

"Cynthia wants to have a little conversation with you two." He says calmly. "Don't worry, it won't take long."

**Ok, so the next chapter won't be for probably a week. I'm moving to another state…. I'm driving with my dad to it. :D **

**But I won't have internet while I'm doing that, so I'll hopefully have an update when I get there. It will not be too long though.**

**Thank you and please review. **


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen:

**Paul:**

I can't break free from Maylene 3's firm grasp. I don't try and twist around because I can feel her dagger pressed into the small of my back.

Reggie 3 walks past Maylene 3 and me, dragging Ash along with him. Ash makes eye contact with me, asking silently if I'm alright. I nod and look away quickly when Maylene 3 jerks my arm roughly.

Reggie 3 suddenly stops, turning slowly to Maylene 3.

"Come here, quickly." I notice that Dawn 3 is following us. She approaches him at a jog with Maylene 3 close behind. He hands Dawn 3 a pile of thin rope like chains. He whispers something in her ear and she nods, kneeling next to Ash and him quickly.

Reggie 3 shoves him downward roughly, holding him there while she places the first set of cuffs around his ankles. The second, though still attached to the ankles, are handcuffs. She puts his hands in those.

When she approaches me, I growl and take a step back, pressing into the dagger sharply. I flinch and pull away.

"Just his right arm and legs. His left arm should be free." Reggie 3 says, not even glancing over at me. I glare at her but don't have much of a choice as she ties my legs and straps my right arm to my side. My left arm is tied as well, though my mark is facing outwards and not covered by anything.

A second later I feel a sharp jab in my neck. I jump but am held back by several arms. A shot has been injected into my neck. Probably to keep my Dare'th powers under control.

I suddenly feel quite sick. Oh God… That's not the drug that we used…. My knees give way and I curse silently in my head, doubting I will be able to stand back up. I can hear Ash vaguely calling out for me, I try and answer but the words are incoherent.

I can feel hands lifting me off the ground, rough words being exchanged. Not really caring who it is, I lean against whoever's holding me up. Whoever it is, tosses me over their shoulder, though surprisingly gently. I frown, it is cold… I think it's Reggie 3 who's holding me… it smells like my Reggie.

I can still hear Ash screaming in the background. The world however, is spinning and I can't concentrate on what he's saying. My fists grip onto Reggie 3's t-shirt as a sudden pain runs through my head. I close my eyes and groan.

One voice makes its way to me.

"He's fine. Relax. We just gave him a little bit too much." Reggie 3 mutters grumpily. The rest is a blur.

Soon I find it impossible to hear anything, allowing the darkness of unconsciousness to take me.

…

I groan as the light comes back into view. My head pounds angrily, and though I need oxygen, my breathing is painfully labored. I do not have the ability to gasp for breath.

My vision remains impaired and the room is blurry, with vague shapes that look like people.

I force myself to croak out one word.

"Ash…?" I whisper.

"He's not here." Someone replies. Gary? My throat catches. My main question is which side am I with? My allies or enemies?

I try to push myself up but my arms are trembling too much. Whoever they are… I am in no condition to defend myself. One of them approaches me slowly. Probably Gary?

A hand is placed on my forehead and I am too weak to stop it. My entire body is trembling with fever though I feel cold. I close my eyes slowly and breathe gently, trying to finally get the air I crave.

"Fever," Definitely Gary. Now which one? "Go get Ash. Now."

I hear footsteps run out of the room before returning with a second pair.

"Paul?" Ash. "It's ok. We're among friends." I nod but cringe when it causes a new wave of pain.

"Wh-what happened?"

"You were overdosed on a drug. Don't worry about it, you'll feel better soon."

"You?" I ask weakly.

"I'm fine." He brushes my sweaty hair out of my face. "Now, I know you haven't fully recovered yet, but Cynthia wants something done right away. It's a little experimental, but it could be the key to winning the war."

"What?"

"Just relax, I'll do it real fast… It shouldn't have to many negative effects." I close my eyes.

"What are you going to do?"

"A light mind touch. Nothing too serious." He smiles at me. "Relax… if you do it will be a lot easier." I do as he says. He presses his mark against mine and almost immediately I feel his mind on the edge of my consciousness.

I frown. This doesn't feel right… He's hiding something, keeping himself away from me-

I flinch away at his violent lurch towards my thoughts. This isn't Ash-

He's Ash 3.

I use the little strength I have left to shove him away before trying to clear my head. What did he do?

Ignoring the incredible pain flooding my body, I leap off the bed only to find my left wrist is strapped to the table. I remember what I had been told once by Ayden. When in a lot of trouble, sometimes a Dare'th can contact their bond by simple will power. If I can just get a mental channel open to Ash…

Ash 3 has recovered, turning back to me.

"Help me out," he growls at a waiting Gary 3 and Dawn 3. "He's going to fight now. At least we gave him a chance."

I lean over the edge of my mark and cover it protecting it with my body. Someone grabs my hair and uses it to yank me off of it. I feel someone touch my mark and begin to initiate mental contact-

A yelp of pain that's not mine is sharply released into the air. My hand is suddenly covered in a warm, sticky substance. I have managed to scratch someone's eye. The arms manage to pin me down. Gary 3 holds me down while Dawn 3 examines Ash 3.

I hear a hiss of pain and some mumbling. I swallow hard and pull against Gary 3. I know that within a few minutes, I will not be able to concentrate. I focus all my energy on finding one consciousness, like how Reggie found me-

My breath catches.

Ash's mind is just beyond my powers reach.


	18. Chapter 18

**I am so sorry for how long this update has taken! I have been super busy! Also I may or may not have been suffering from a bit of writers block…**

**Well, I am glad to be back. School is however starting up again, I don't think updates will be slowed, but you never know. **

Chapter Eighteen:

**Ash:**

I run down the alley towards the stables. Every bone in my body is aching with the need to stop, but I know that they are close behind me. Or at least, Paul 3 is. I had managed to escape, simply by luck. I enter the stables and fling my saddle onto Birch. After preparing him, I do the same to Chance and tie her to Birch. I've got to find Paul…

I leap onto Birch and run him out of the barn and back towards the main building where I believe they're keeping Paul. I only get halfway there when jolt strikes my body. I nearly fall off Birch. A feeling of relief rises in my stomach when I realize it's Paul.

_Paul! Are you alright? Where are you? _I struggle to project this to him.

_I am fine for now. I am in the laboratories. Hurry. _

He cuts off. I speed up Birch. Without warning, an arrow comes whizzing past my head. I yelp, looking sideways. Paul 3. I think back, trying to remember how proficient Paul is with a bow….

He's pretty good. Not perfect. But he can hit me if I get to close. He's a good hunter…

I shoot down a more difficult path, heading towards the laboratories. I hop off of my horse before shooing them off. I can't have them getting hurt or injured. I then draw my dagger, heading inwards. I can see the doors, knowing that just beyond them Paul is where Paul is. I bite my lip, my body flooding with adrenaline.

I feel a hand grip my shoulder. I turn sharply-

Reggie. Thank God…

"Is Paul in there?" Reggie asks sharply. I nod. "What are you going to do? If you barge in there, you'll get caught as well." He looks at me. "Let me help. I'll be a distraction."

"Paul's counterpart is going to be here any second. We have to hurry." I get to my feet. "I agree with your plan." He nods and runs forward and straight through the front doors.

He comes running out a minute later with several people close on his heels including, Ash 3, Dawn 3, Gary 3, and Reggie 3. I run inside and close the door, locking it after checking no one else is inside. I spot a figure, lying on the floor, covered in blood.

"Paul!" He looks up at me and smiles.

"Ash!" he returns my hug. "You're alright. I thought they caught you."

"I got away… how badly are you injured?"

"This isn't my blood. I managed to scratch your counterparts eye pretty badly." I nod, starting to cut at his single handcuff.

"You sure you're ok?" He nods. I hear some voices. Glancing up, Gary and Dawn come running in.

"Thank God!" Dawn says, hugging her stomach. "We've been looking for everyone for hours! They all seem to have disappeared!" I get Paul free and he stands up.

"Now what…?" Gary asks, looking around. "We're kind of trapped…." I look over at Paul.

"If you can open a portal, we can run away. Do you think you can do that?" He stares at me before slowly nodding.

"I think so…. Just give me a minute." He closes his eyes and raises his hands-

The door is cracked open, all of our counterparts including Cynthia 3 are standing there. Paul doesn't break concentration.

"Well…" Cynthia 3 whispers. "Trying to escape, huh? I didn't know you could open a portal Paul." She nods her head in Paul 3's direction. "Stop him." Paul 3 raises his hand and prepares to halt Paul's efforts.

Reggie comes bursting in through the door and physically crashes into Paul 3.

"RUN! GET OUT!" he shouts at us. "GET AWAY PAUL! GO!" Paul stares at him for a minute before a portal breaks open in front of him.

The last thing I hear before jumping, is the sound of Cynthia 3 screaming, 'follow them'.

…..

It happens to be, that Paul had no idea how to control the portal. We spend the next ten minutes, thrashing around the spinning vortex, trying desperately to remain upright. I spot the first way out of the portal and shout for Paul to throw us through there. He does and we go crashing out into the new universe.

I hit the ground roughly. Groaning, I roll onto my back. We're in a forest of some kind… I sit up and look around for everyone else. Dawn and Gary are to my right, looking pretty dazed. Paul is to my left. He isn't moving. I run to his side immediately.

Gary and Dawn kneel beside him as well.

"Don't worry, he's just tired." Gary says. "He's going to be hungry when he wakes up though. And he won't be able to form a portal for a while…"

"Does that mean we're trapped here?!" Dawn asks. He nods.

"Reggie won't be able to find us without trying every single universe…. I'm guessing we'll just have to wait it out." He sighs. "And that's if Paul can get it open. He did this one probably by pure adrenaline." I nod and stroke Paul's back gently.

"When will he wake up?"

"Probably within the hour. Dawn and I will go find some food."

…

Paul's eyes snap open and he pushes himself to his knees. I look up from my relaxed position by the fire.

"Good, you're awake." I toss an apple at him. Dawn and Gary are fast asleep. I've taken first watch. He looks around at his dark surrondings.

"Where are we?" he asks. "And you are Ash right?" I hold up my tattoo free hand and he relaxes.

"To the question of where are we, I'm not sure." I reply. He nods.

"Ok…" he looks around again. "How long was I out?"

"Longer then Gary thought you would be." He nods before shivering slightly. "Come here." He does, resting his head on my shoulder.

"What are we going to do?" he asks. I shrug.

"That's a good question."

**Sorry the lengths not to long! I wrote this pretty quickly! I don't have much time anymore…. Moving is a rough time….**


End file.
